Flipped

After years of making films like Because I Said So and the incestual, creepy Rumor Has It, director Rob Reiner has decided to return to his nostalgic, heart-warming roots with Flipped, a surprisingly absorbing coming-of-age story about two childhood friends named Juli and Bryce (played by young, talented newcomers Madeline Carroll and Callan McAuliffe) falling in love during the '60s. Flipped is a film that's able to dissect the small, yet life affecting, trials and tribulations of first crushes through to adult complexities and unlike movies like My Girl and Bridge to Terabithia, isn't riddled with obligatory tragic events, which unfortunately, will not make this "feel good" family story fairly memorable to the masses. Through its constant, yet tiresome, exchange of telling the same stories via Juli and Bryce's perspectives, it's safe to say that Flipped can be considered a younger, cleverer version of He's Just Not that Into You. Even dealing with characters at such a young age, the film is able to successfully convey how Juli's strong yearnings for Bryce could be considered an early symptom of borderline personality disorder, as well as glamorizing the delusion that emotionally unavailable males can ultimately be attained and disciplined. Despite the fact Flipped is chockfull of once B-list talent from the '80s, such as Rebecca De Mornay, Penelope Ann Miller and Aidan Quinn, it's the film's young leads (especially Madeline Carroll) that shine brightest, and while Flipped is a far cry from Reiner's heyday of films like Stand By Me and The Princess Bride, it is a family film capable of attracting adult viewers, if only for its many identifiable relationship issues. The DVD also includes a special feature of Madeline Carroll and Callan McAuliffe experiencing their first kisses onscreen and in real-life in front a frustrated film crew that's as cute as it is nauseating.