"Teenage Passions"
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What You Need To Know:
Teenage romance has been depicted in many ways – flighty, dramatic, enduring, even terrifying. HERE ON EARTH is a bit more heart wrenching than most and, though well acted for the most part, contains ordinary subject matter. Leelee Sobieski and Chris Klein do well with their roles as the two lovers, although Sobieski is not thoroughly convincing as a “small town” girl. In an early scene, Klein makes a point of avoiding going too far with Sobieski’s character while they are kissing, but, soon after, the two are shown “the morning after” in bed. This sends a ludicrous message to teenagers. Thus, despite some moral elements, including a scene in a Christian church, HERE ON EARTH has a non-Christian worldview and a bit of sexual immorality. Parents should be very cautious about letting their older children see this PG-13 movie.
Content:
(RoRo, Ab, B, C, L, V, S, NN, AA, M) Mostly romantic worldview of characters being controlled by their emotions & idealistic attitudes toward love, plus some antibiblical, moral & biblical elements such as vague references to heaven, wrongdoing rebuked by authorities, boy deals with feelings for dying person & eventually does the right thing, & girl attends church with Scripture shown in background of scene; 5 obscenities & 2 profanities; car chase ends in fiery explosion with no injuries, boys fight several times including pushing, shoving, punching, & boy rams head into kick drum; implied fornication, some innuendo & other references to sex; partial nudity of couple depicted in bed after implied sex & some cleavage; alcohol use & abuse by teenager; no smoking or drugs; and, revenge & father provides bad role model.
More Detail:
In HERE ON EARTH, a brazen, rich prep school student participates in a reckless car race in a small Massachusetts town, destroying a family’s diner. Sentenced to repair the damage with the boy he raced against, he falls in love with the other boy’s girlfriend, causing a love triangle complicated by status, jealousy and the past.
Chris Klein (AMERICAN PIE) stars as Kelley, a rich student neglected by his father. Upon receiving a brand new Mercedes for graduation from his father (who is too busy with his business affairs to attend), Kelley and a few friends decide to take a joy ride. They stop to eat in the small, nearby town of Putnam, Massachusetts. In charge of her mother’s diner that evening, Samantha (Leelee Sobieski of NEVER BEEN KISSED) waits on Kelley’s table. He tries to annoy her with his attitude and sarcasm, only to be stopped by Samantha’s boyfriend, Jasper. Kelley and Jasper begin fighting, insulting each other’s background. Knowing she is responsible for the diner, Samantha steps between them to stop the fight.
Not stopping there, Kelley and his crew taunt Jasper and his friend, as they drive away from the diner, leading Jasper and his friend in a wild race. The two cars speed through the town and swerve to miss a group of pedestrians, but run into gas station pumps. The boys step out of their cars unharmed, only to watch a fiery explosion destroy the diner next to the pumps.
Kelley and Jasper attend a hearing deciding their punishment, to work together to rebuild the diner. Despite Kelley’s attorney’s pleas to simply “pay for the damage,” an adamant judge refuses. Jasper’s family even offers a place for Kelley to stay, meaning the boys also will have to live in the same place together.
Upon his arrival, Kelley displays a poor attitude. Samantha, however, sees something special in Kelley that makes her inquire further about his character. Soon the two become interested in each other, leaving Jasper wondering where he stands with Samantha. Jasper has known Samantha his entire life and has always thought they would be together. Confused and enthralled with the excitement of being in love, Samantha finally decides that Kelley is the one for her, even going away with him to his house for a weekend. She learns many secrets about Kelley’s past and lets him discover some of her own, though they will affect her future with him.
Teenage romance has been depicted in many ways – flighty, dramatic, enduring, even terrifying. HERE ON EARTH is a bit more heart wrenching than most and, though well acted for the most part, contains ordinary subject matter. Sobieski and Klein do well with their parts, but Sobieski was not thoroughly convincing as a ‘small town’ girl. The movie portrays the romance between them mostly in the “butterflies” stage, successfully showing the excitement of a girl’s first love. Yet, the depth of this love goes uninvestigated until the movie’s bittersweet end.
In an early scene, Kelley makes a point of avoiding going too far with Samantha while they are kissing, but, soon after, the two are shown together “the morning after” in bed. This premarital sex sends a ludicrous message to teens. Thus, despite some moral and biblical elements and a scene where Samantha attends a Christian church, the worldview of HERE ON EARTH is a romantic one. The movie considers people as essentially good and noble. Also, the characters rely on their emotions when it comes to intimate relationships rather than their minds and rather than the moral and theological standards of the Bible.
HERE ON EARTH is a tearjerker depicting young men and women having to deal with some major issues, though it neglects some other issues, such as the need for sexual abstinence. The plot ultimately rests on dealing with the emotional daze of young love and the importance of not judging someone by their external wealth but by their internal character. The movie also contains elements that require discussion with older children and teenagers. In fact, parents should be very cautious about letting their older children see this PG-13 movie.
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