Movie Reviews

The Forger Movie | Josh Hutcherson

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Written by Jonathan Jacobs

Joshua (Josh Hutcherson) is a teenaged vagabond. His mother has absconded on account of an irrevocable drug addiction thus leaving him alone to wander the desolate streets. Imagine a young teen all alone in the world with no clean clothes, nothing to eat, and sleeping under bridges with nobody to look after him/her. This is the predicament Joshua finds himself in. Fortunately, he does possess a rare talent. This young man is a natural born artist of the first order and he requires little or no instruction. No painting or drawing is beyond his skill level. Before being placed in a home by child services, Joshua meets his future girlfriend and true love Amber (Hayden Panattiere). Amber is perhaps too flirty all around but she is also lovely and vulnerable. She teaches Joshua how to behave gentlemanly and romantically, which are two priceless skills.

Child services places the boy in the protective custody of an ostensibly affluent artist named Everly (Alfred Molina). Everly is a forger that hires artists to perfect what are thought to be lost pieces of artwork that are hundreds of years old. At the artist's luxury home Joshua is instructed in the art of creating a perfect forgery that will sell on the market for millions of dollars. Little do the town's people know that Everly is millions of dollars in debt and on the verge of having all of his studios and homes and cars repossessed. He sees Joshua as his ticket to greener pastures and financial security. In all fairness, by teaching Joshua how to survive in the world by utilizing his primary talent, their relationship could be viewed as a great apprenticeship even if undergirded by deceit.

Everly's former forger Anne-Marie (Lauren Bacall) is also vying for Joshua's attention. Her family died in a fire early on in her marriage. As an elderly woman she is lonely, remorseful and concerned for the boy. She only participated in the creation of one forgery and only to help her children have surgery that ultimately did not save their lives. This fact comes to haunt her relationship with Joshua when he needs guidance and affection the most.

While I do not feel as though Director Lawrence Roeck spends enough time doting on the scientific aspects of generating a master fake, this film is more about Josh Hutcherson as the forger than it is about the creation of something false. It is clear that Josh Hutcherson movies are improving at a striking rate. He is bound for acting greatness. Alfred Molina has been around for what seems like forever, yet he continues to churn out hot buttered popcorn. Lauren Bacall has not lost a step in all of these years. Finally, Hayden Panattiere from The Forger may be a model, but that will never prevent her from being a lovely young actress. 

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