The way she reacted when she saw Joshua's drawing was ridiculous. She was acting like that was cast iron proof that the father was being abusive. I know Joshua was clever but would some one with her experience be that easy to manipulate.
shareI agree - not sure whether it was overacting or direction, but it was unreal.
shareJust watching now. . .
I sort of had this on as background noise, until Celia Weston hit the pavement, then I sat down and gave it my full attention.
First the dad rattles the ice in his glass and it sounds like he's working a cement mixer and chewing up marbles--hello, sound editing? Then the whole shrink scene is absurdly over the top, for both characters. Then the (formerly likeable, right?) dad is dropping cigarette ash on the baby and telling Joshua he's going away--very FAR away.
I was impressed with the DEATH acrostic mentioned in the Trivia section, but this doesn't seem to be crafted with subtlety.
That scene always threw me off. The first time she meets the kid she sees some drawings and immediately informs the parent "Your child is being abused" as if there is no other explanation. They could've achieved the same thing (suspicion being cast on the father) without pushing it to such an unrealistic extreme.
shareAs someone similar to the shrink it is a very plausible scene. Unfortunately minorities in Social services can become quite black and white no pun intended. I saw the scene as sonewhat of a misunderstanding. The Shrink started off neutral and though a slippery slope, it was up to Sam to diffuse the situation. When he escalated, she took it up a notch. If you don't think this is plausible, go to an inner city school and try jumping bad with the Social Worker or Clerk for that matter. If I was surprised at all, it was that Sam didn't have a better feel for the Shrink's temperament prior to bringing her in.Excellent movie. Smart. Sam Rockwell and his mother could be the coolest mother and child of recent movie memory. If you can't tell, I really liked this movie.
shareIt did seem a little premature for her to make such an accusation. I think she could've waited until she had a bit more evidence to draw such a drastic conclusion. Maybe a few more talks with Joshua to see what kind of person he was and what his living situation was like would've helped before making such a serious judgment. Perhaps she just wasn't a very good psychologist and another one would've done a bit better.
shareI'd say that's fairly accurate in real life. Many of these so called doctors and therapists only have "textbook" knowledge of sociopaths and such diagnoses can't be made until the age of 18. They are EASILY manipulated by children of that type usually. A parent with a sociopath for a child is often completely helpless until it's too late. To paraphrase the uncle in this movie- I know from experience, sadly.