The party-hardy world of sex and drugs that movies like to throw a troupe of teenagers through in an effort to make a point about our schizophrenic culture of social pressures and expectations has had more than its fair share of time on the screen, both in the Cineplex and in the average living room. We get it every week in one of countless television dramas exploring that very subject, and with decreasing frequency in a feature film. It’s a hard subject to find a new take on for a solid 90 minutes, and Joel Schumacher failed to do so in his latest film Twelve. Instead of startling insight into teenage drug use or social evils that spawn from peer pressure, we get the all too typical look at lives crumbling to pieces and getting swept away in the wind in free fall.
Free-roaming White Mike (Chace Crawford) dropped out of college because he did the math and found that selling drugs proved to garner higher returns in the short-term. Unfortunately, it’s not much of a long-term plan and leaves him drifting aimlessly through life, never making a major impact on any one person; his only “friends” are the people who buy their drugs from him, and their cheery dispositions last just long enough to carry them through their purchases and out of his life. His life proves the common thread that takes us into the life of an unpopular, down-trodden teen (Rory Culkin), his abusive, self-destructive brother (Billy Magnussen), the hot girl (Esti Ginzburg), his supplier (Curtis Jackson), and the girl next door (Emma Roberts) who still doesn’t know the life Mike chose. All of their lives take a sudden turn for the worse upon the introduction of a new designer drug and the murder of one of their friends. All of this transpires under the careful watch of narrator Kiefer Sutherland.
For a quick jog through the world of Twelve, try this "flipbook".
Twelve may be just another clichéd entry in the sexy teenage drug drama genre, one covered to death by the likes of Gossip Girl and Skins, but it’s easily one of the better things to come out of Schumacher’s efforts of the last decade and a half. The direction isn’t awful but it offers nothing special in how it examines the fracturing of a teenage reality obsessed with self-indulgence. The over-reliance on Sutherland’s narration, which is quite good if not a little distracting (as most voiceovers are), means Schumacher never has to put together anything resembling a story line. Instead we get a series of random interactions patched together by a narrator with no real story or character progression to speak of.
All you end up seeing is a haze of angst, lens tricks, and overwrought emotion. If there was a good story to tie it all together it wouldn’t be so bad; as is, it’s a vapid attempt that brings nothing new to a well-traveled genre.
The Blu-ray transfer gives the intimate cinematography style a nice touch, and along with Sutherland’s narration is one of the redeeming qualities of the film. White Mike might never get to stay in any one person’s world for too long, but the glimpses we see while he’s there are crystal clear and have a nice sheen. The audio for the film can’t boast anything special; the only noteworthy audio facet is the narration and you don’t need crystal clear sound for that.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The disc is surprisingly devoid of any sort of extra feature which is odd for a new film on Blu-ray. Not even an audio commentary? Come on Mr. Schumacher, while I’m not your greatest fan, even I found your commentary on Batman & Robin to be the best way to watch the film. That he wouldn’t provide the feature on a film of his that’s nowhere near the worst of what he’s done is bewildering. It’s a shame that more effort wasn’t put into the extras as they could have gone a long way towards making the disc more worthy of purchase.
"Twelve" is on sale December 28, 2010 and is rated R. Drama. Directed by Joel Schumacher. Written by Jordan Melamed (screenplay), Nick McDonell (novel). Starring Chace Crawford, Curtis Jackson, Emma Roberts, Esti Ginzburg, Kiefer Sutherland, Philip Ettinger, Rory Culkin, Zoe Kravitz.
