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Film Search
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10,000 Saints
Comedy drama
Eleanor Henderson’s terrific novel gets a fitfully effective adaptation by Shari Springer-Berman and Robert Pulcini, observing the circa-1988 world of New York’s Alphabet City—including the Straight Edge punk scene—through the eyes of troubled teen Jude (Asa Butterfield); Johnny (Emile Hirsch), the brother of Jude's recently-deceased best friend Teddy; and Eliza (Hailee Steinfeld), who got pregnant by Teddy on the night he died. Springer-Berman and Pulcini do an effective job of streamlining the novel’s sprawling narrative, and get a terrific performance from Ethan Hawke as Jude’s pot-dealer dad; Hawke’s clearly a genius when it comes to absentee, good-time father figures. But there’s a serious lack of energy in plenty of key areas—notably a crucial set piece involving the Tomkins Square Park riot—and a lackluster performance by Butterfield that focuses too much on Jude’s unrequited crush on Eliza while missing the fervor of his “conversion” to Straight Edge. Every time it feels like Ten Thousand Saints is going to find something profound about the many different ways we find family connection, it bumps up against workmanlike storytelling that loses an essential element of passion.
Director: Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
Producer: Anne Carey, Amy Nauiokas, Luca Borghese, Trudie Styler, Celine Rattray, Charlotte Ubben, Shari Springer Berman and Pamela Hirsch
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Ethan Hawke, Emile Hirsch, Emily Mortimer, Julianne Nicholson, Avan Jogia, Nadia Alexander, Henry Kelemen and Thomas Hettrick
Producer: Anne Carey, Amy Nauiokas, Luca Borghese, Trudie Styler, Celine Rattray, Charlotte Ubben, Shari Springer Berman and Pamela Hirsch
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Ethan Hawke, Emile Hirsch, Emily Mortimer, Julianne Nicholson, Avan Jogia, Nadia Alexander, Henry Kelemen and Thomas Hettrick
