It sounds cliché and trite to say growing up in the Bronx, I really knew where this film was coming from, but seriously, growing up in the Bronx around gangs and poverty, I knew where this film was coming from. Director Shearer created the film based upon his experiences teaching at a juvenile hall, and it's clear from the get go, that "Son Up" is truly an inspired and heartfelt elegy to the young men who want to reform but just don't know how to. Shearer examines the vicious almost unending cycle of a juvenile delinquent who is a basic product and prisoner of his situation in life. Living in a trailer, and an overbearing mother, Shadd seeks to break free from his life and move on, but he just doesn't
know how. For him, the answer may eventually present itself, but Shearer's glimmer of hope for his character really is not the message he conveys here.

For many others in such impoverished settings the situation is hopeless and the cycle endless, but "Son Up" and its main character ends as an allegory for what Shearer is hoping would happen to every angry young man who just can't escape a life of crime and will always end up right where they started. Very few young men can escape crime, and when they can it's a true accomplishment. "Son Up" is utterly insightful offering less a cliché view of juvenile delinquents and more a humanistic approach as young men who just do not know how to redeem themselves in their own lives, and rarely have a chance to offer something to society. Shadd has a chance to do what he's always wanted, but the film ends on an open door offering a climax that can be left to our own interpretation.

With a short film dealing with such a topic, Shearer has the chance to become preachy, but he doesn't. He offers up different explanations as to why he's a juvenile delinquent and asks for an understanding. Shearer's direction is pleasing to the eye, and engrossing and "Son Up" is an individual approach to such a topic in our society. There's an excellent sequence in which Shadd and his potential girlfriend are exchanging dialogue to one another through thoughts and glances that really does add a sense of originality. Shearer doesn't just profile these characters, he gets in to their minds.

For what the film requires, Steven Lee Allen's performance is one of the only true low points during "Son Up". He provides a truly over-the-top performance as Shadd's mentor and counselor who urges him to break out of his constant re-emergence in to juvie hall. "Son Up" does have an essence of melodrama in the occasional sequences from the dreamy montage in the climax, and introversion of our main character, but that's essentially doesn't hold a lot of bearing on the actual film, it's just a caveat best sidestepped.

In spite of being melodramatic, and an over the top performance by Allen, "Son Up" is a smart, and insightful look at juvenile delinquents offering a new perspective with top notch writing, great direction, and good performances.

• Interested in learning more about "Son Up"? Check out director Shearer's official website: http://www.wayofdale.com/sonup

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