Anytime you incorporate an ill-behaved adolescent as the central point of your story, things often have the tendency to get a bit out of control. Kat Chandler's Hellion learns this firsthand as the story fails to mature to its rightful spot and ultimately falls short of making any real sense or purpose. Fortunately for Chandler, she has stars like Aaron Paul and Juliette Lewis, both of whom pull up the slack and keep the story marching along to its expected, highly predictable finish.
Bearing an undeniable "indie" feel and a heap of underdeveloped characters, Hellion has an uphill climb from the onset. A weak story that chronicles a thirteen-year-old, motocross-obsessed boy's delinquent behavior and its effects on his single father is nothing near unique. And while Chandler works hard to connect with the audience and make her characters relatable, she is unable to reel any sort of emotion from the audience as it is impossible to feel any sort of sympathy for our main protagonist Jacob, played by Josh Wiggins.
Aaron Paul and Juliette Lewis, the most experienced members of the rather intimate cast, bring forth a great deal of talent, carrying the film during its lackluster moments and, on occasion, giving us someone to care about and connect with. But even their performances are handicapped by those around them as they often find themselves portraying one-dimensional beings, lacking any real depth as the force both dialogue and action to help the story progress to its final resting place.
That being said, Hellion does offer a few bright spots, most notably during the initial scenes that help set up the story. Chandler does a solid job at introducing her characters and giving viewers promise for a story unlike all the rest. She also has a keen eye for cinematography, and the overall pace of the film worked to its advantage as the film never appeared to stay stationary for too long. But after half an hour, the good quickly falls to the wayside, leaving nothing worth getting excited over in its wake.
A quick story doesn't make it a well oiled one. Annoying characters and a poorly told finale leave much to the imagination, and an unlikely altercation is what finally gave me the impression that Hellion isn't quite what it should have been. There are just too many outrageous circumstances that ultimately didn't fit into the perceived surroundings. All together the film simply didn't cut it.
