It's a high school drama that was adapted from a short story by Ron Carlson. I've not read the story but I'm guessing all the padding was in the first two thirds. The remainder of it wanted very much to be like a YA novel brought to life, but there was barely a flicker of life to be found. Neither the anarchic titular character nor the girl he sets his sights on (a regular smart, popular high school achiever) have the charisma needed to sustain viewer interest when the story can't. It's a miracle I made it to the good part, the finale. It's there that it lifts its listless head, pulls up its fighting socks and goes for the much-needed heart-punch. If that level of near-excellence could've been reached earlier and sustained longer it would maybe be a winner.
2½ anti-dates out of 5
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