Kindness seems to be in short supply in junior high schools across the country. Kids maliciously single out those who are different and make it clear to them that they think they are losers. These rejects struggle mightily with their loneliness and constantly ask themselves why they are either hated or ignored. Their only sanctuary is to bond with other pariahs or to retreat to an imaginary world.
Logan (Malcolm Stumpf) lives alone with his mother (Fairuza Balk). She thinks he is far too dreamy, always living in a world of his own. His best friend is Joey (Max Paradise), another kid in junior high school who is not popular. It hurts him and so he makes up a list of things he could do to become a cool person. Logan knows that he is different and so does everyone else. At a dance, he is punched in the face and called a faggot. A counselor (Kim Dickens) is concerned about Logan's mental and emotional state and tries to understand him, but the boy is not very good at putting his feelings into words. Later, when the counselor learns of a vicious campaign against Logan mounted by a large group of students, the principal inaugurates a campaign of kindness with the intention of promoting tolerance in the school instead of homophobia.
What Logan does know is that he empathizes with a mountain lion who was shot after wandering into the community. The school has put out an alert about this dangerous animal and students are required to wear safety bracelets. Logan respects the mountain lion and is appalled at the fears that have spread like wildfire about the animal. He is happy when Rodeo (Patrick White), a ninth grader who spends most of his time alone, turns out to share his feelings. He claims to have seen one, which is more than anyone else in the community can say. Logan feels free to express himself with Rodeo, and he pushes this to the limit when he begins some suggestive phone conversations with him during which he calls himself Leah. It is the closest he comes to drawing out the woman inside him.
Writer and director Cam Archer has fashioned a compelling portrait of a 13-year-old homosexual struggling with his identity, alienation from his peers, loneliness, and sexual fantasies. The imagery in this coming-of-age drama is stunning and reveals why the director has already won the support of Gus Van Sant, who is an executive producer for Wild Tigers I Have Known.
Screened at the New Directors/New Films Festival, April 2007,New York City.
