REVIEW - SHORT TERM 12

A touching low-key drama, if its touch is generally pretty light. Destin Cretton's film posits itself initially as an ensemble piece, which it ostensibly is, but its route through the deeper recesses of the damaged minds of specific characters within that ensemble becomes less broad as it progresses, yet no narrower. A full portrait of said minds is painted, and the setting, the measured tone of the screenplay and the respectful performances keep melodrama at bay. And this is why so light a touch is necessary when the filmmaker's aim is to realistically depict reality. Never let truth get in the way of a good story, and Cretton lets both truth and a good story have their ways in Short Term 12. With sensitive performances from its young cast providing a generous pitch for his screenplay, Cretton hones in, ever inward, creating a film defined by its emotional geography rather than its physical, and the restricted range of sensory storytelling is what has been reaped in this exchange. A basic sound mix does yield one ironic result, in the amplified atmospheric noise in a particular, hushed nocturnal scene intensifying the sense of space, and for once placing the action in a more palpable physical context. Dignified work from the actors abounds, with each and all resisting the latent theatrics in any film concerned with such affective matters. First among equals is Keith Stanfield as Marcus, whose brief rap sequence is an acute jolt to the heart within the film, whereupon its heretofore easygoing nature is interrupted by a bristling, searing, sharp energy in Stanfield's heartfelt prose and steadfast gaze. His touch is suddenly, superbly anything but light.