Crutch (film)

Crutch
Directed by	Rob Moretti
Produced by	Michael Philip Anthony Rob Moretti Eric Smith
Written by	Paul Jacks Rob Moretti
Music by	Ben Goldberg
Cinematography	Brian Fass
Editing by	Jennifer Erickson Rob Moretti
Distributed by	Ardustry Home Entertainment LLC HP Releasing
Release date(s)	17 September 2004
Running time	88 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$50,000 (estimated)

Crutch is a 2004 autobiographical coming of age film written and directed by Rob Moretti.^[1][2]

Synopsis

Young David (Eben Gordon) seems to have a normal middle-class life in the suburban world outside New York City. When David's father (James A. Earley) leaves his alcoholic wife (Juanita Walsh) after 17 years, David is forced to become parent to his siblings and caregiver to his alcoholic mother. Theater coach Kenny (Rob Moretti) becomes enamoured of David. Overwhelmed by his home situation, David is weakened and falls prey to the taboo. Giving in to Kenny's advances, David becomes involved with drugs and alcohol.

Cast

• Eben Gordon as David Graham
• Rob Moretti as Kenny Griffith
• Juanita Walsh as Katie Graham
• Jennifer Laine Williams as Julia
• Jennifer Katz as Maryann
• James A. Earley as Jack Graham
• Robert Bray as Michael Graham
• Laura O'Reilly as Lisa Graham
• Tim Loftus as Zack
• Sylvia Norman as Linda
• Frankie Faison as Jerry

Critical response

Anita Gates of the New York Times writes "'Crutch' doesn't have the texture or power of "Blue Car", Karen Moncrieff's 2002 film with Agnes Bruckner as the neglected, emotionally needy teenager and David Strathairn as the high school poetry teacher who takes advantage ... [it] does sound a note of real anguish, however."^[3] Don Willmott of Filmcritic.com writes "'Crutch' comes across as an extremely personal exorcism of Moretti’s suburban gothic adolescence, for better and for worse. Like the scribblings in a teenager’s diary, the film vacillates between insight and exaggeration".^[4] Movies Online opines "'CRUTCH' is a captivating and brutally honest look into love, loss, lies and our own dark secrets".^[5] However, on the negative side, DVD Verdict opines that "Rob Moretti's Crutch is the kind of film I feel bad for not liking. It's awfully sincere, and, darn it, everyone involved tries real hard, but the movie still comes up short".^[6]

References

1. ^ rottentomatoes.com, Crutch, Retrieved 12-10-2008
2. ^ phase9.tv, Crutch, Retrieved 12-10-2008
3. ^ Anita Gates (2004-09-17). "Sixteen and Desperate, With No One to Lend an Ear". New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/2004/09/17/movies/17CRUT.html?_r=1. 
4. ^ filmcritic.com, A film review by Don Willmott, Retrieved 12-10-2008
5. ^ moviesonline.con, "Crutch A Rob Moretti Film", Retrieved 12-10-2008
6. ^ dvdverdict.com, review of Crutch, Retrieved 12-10-2008

Additional reading

• Marketwire, September 2004, "Crutch acquired by Illuminare"

External links

• Crutch at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Web Site
• Yahoo! Movies
• Blockbuster online