Critic Reviews
-
Stephen Holden, New York Times
Sinks under the weight of its own pretensions.
-
Tom Long, Detroit News
The result isn't awful, but it is awfully familiar. When will someone make a film about being old, poor and ugly in Omaha?
-
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
It all comes off as faintly absurd.
-
Kyle Smith, New York Post
It feels as shopworn as a dusty VHS tape of Less Than Zero.
-
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
Schumacher can't keep himself from the kind of vibey camera and editing flourishes that facilitate only viewer numbness...
-
Ted Fry, Seattle Times
Plays like a melodramatic rip-off of Bret Easton Ellis books about insufferable kids obsessed with money, drugs and themselves.
-
John Hanlon, Big Hollywood
Overburdened with too many characters and a manufactured conclusion, "Twelve" wastes a solid performance by Chace Crawford.
-
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
There are absolutely no surprises in "Twelve." None. And the characters are as familiar as the story--a stock collection of "prep school" males and females that look as if they've never sat through a class in their lives.
-
Matt Singer, IFC.com
Give Schumacher credit for making a movie that is, at the very least, unique in its failure.
-
Armond White, New York Press
Joel Schumacher's talent exceeds his ambition in Twelve.
-
Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com
An unsavory piece of dreary, mindless ick from a director who can't seem to get his act together these days. That is, if he ever had an act to begin with.
-
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
One of the characters...astutely describes herself as 'shallow and narcissistic.' So's the movie.
-
Tricia Olszewski, Washington City Paper
Want to punch the narrator in the face? Good, we're on the same page.
-
Annlee Ellingson, Moving Pictures Magazine
Like most of its characters, Twelve is too cool for school.
-
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Another disappointing portrait of rich spoiled kids based on an estimable novel, though you can't blame the actors for the shallow, glitzy tale, directed by Joel Schumacher.
-
S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media
Bleak, intense look at the high life of NYC's young elites.
-
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
Twelve is so much less than zero.
-
Dave White, Movies.com
It's been about 15 years since we had a really major and unpleasant Teen Nihilism movie to feel good about...so teen audiences should soak this one right up.
-
Josh Bell, Las Vegas Weekly
Like listening to an audiobook while perusing an interior-design magazine.
Read all 19 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
-
[My predicted rating: 3
This film almost has good points and could have made it as good film, perhaps if the acting was a little more gritty and parts of the plot were tidied up it would have been. In a world full of materialistic teens, the only one with a heart seems to be Drug… More
[My predicted rating: 3
This film almost has good points and could have made it as good film, perhaps if the acting was a little more gritty and parts of the plot were tidied up it would have been. In a world full of materialistic teens, the only one with a heart seems to be Drug Dealer "White Mike".
In the tough world of Drug dealing, gangs etc, "White Mike" seems to flow through with no trouble from more likely dealers, meanwhile we hear lots of back stories from all the characters, which never really go anywhere, it's a bit of a "pretty film". Fans of 50 Cent, will probably be disappointed in his small role, which really doesn't mix in too well.
I have to give one mention of praise though and that is to Rory Culkin, who did show some pretty decent acting skills.
-
Such a dull and boring movie. I stopped at the 10 minute mark. That narrator was killing me. His monotone voice giving me useless background information that I didn't need to know and didn't give a fuck about. Omggggg I didn't even watch it for that long, but it drove… More
Such a dull and boring movie. I stopped at the 10 minute mark. That narrator was killing me. His monotone voice giving me useless background information that I didn't need to know and didn't give a fuck about. Omggggg I didn't even watch it for that long, but it drove me insane. I HATE narrators in a movie; it ruins the entire thing. It was like a fucking audio book. Nothing was even happening in the movie, sure I only watched it for a few minutes, but come on. A movie shouldn't be THAT uninteresting in the first 10 minutes. What a piece of shit film.
-
It's like Brett Easton Ellis had a baby and threw it in a dumpster.
-
Worse than I figured it would be and that's saying quite a lot! Teens using and more teens using and teens partying and more teens using and that's pretty much the film summed up. Some violence with only a scant hint at some kind of storyline involving White Mike's… More
Worse than I figured it would be and that's saying quite a lot! Teens using and more teens using and teens partying and more teens using and that's pretty much the film summed up. Some violence with only a scant hint at some kind of storyline involving White Mike's cousin being murdered and his friend being framed for it. A complete waste of time. One of the worst movies I've seen in a while, even worse than those low-budget 50's horror films I've watched.
-
I enjoyed "Twelve" for some very superficial reasons. I am always drawn to films where characters intersect in random ways. Also, films about rich people doing bad things always appeals to me in a very obvious way. Now, I am not saying "Twelve" is a good film, I… More
I enjoyed "Twelve" for some very superficial reasons. I am always drawn to films where characters intersect in random ways. Also, films about rich people doing bad things always appeals to me in a very obvious way. Now, I am not saying "Twelve" is a good film, I will say it's an entertaining film. It's entertaining in a tashy way. While director Joel Schumacher adds some interesting directorial flourishes, the cast never really delivers the emotions it needs to truly work. The film starts out like an extremely obvious New York City version of "Less Than Zero" but surprisingly, as the film moves along, it gets farther away from that and finds it's feet- no matter how wobbly they might be. "Twelve" is silly but entirely watchable. I have seen worse films about teenagers and drugs ("Havoc") and I have certainly seen better ("Requiem for a Dream").
-
This is monumentally bad. Not only is it a terrible rendition of a great book, but it essentially says nothing at all. Joel Schumacher tries to bring in all these different elements into the story, including white backdrops for flashbacks and odd movement blurs, but they just… More
This is monumentally bad. Not only is it a terrible rendition of a great book, but it essentially says nothing at all. Joel Schumacher tries to bring in all these different elements into the story, including white backdrops for flashbacks and odd movement blurs, but they just don't work at all. This just feels like a wannabe Bret Easton Ellis novel, which isn't even close to what the actual book did. This is just a chance to cash in on the popularity of The Gossip Girl by showing rich New York teens having sex and doing drugs. The dialogue is really what sends it over the edge, it 's not even close to being realistic or even halfway believable. It's sad, this potentially could have been an extremely relevant movie, but instead it just had all the wrong ideas on how to execute the plot and characters.
-
The best thing about this teenage drug drama is the character development. All of the characters in the film are taken and measured down to a key point to why their connected and supposed to be in the film. It works really well and its the only good thing "Twelve" has to… More
The best thing about this teenage drug drama is the character development. All of the characters in the film are taken and measured down to a key point to why their connected and supposed to be in the film. It works really well and its the only good thing "Twelve" has to offer: its interesting characters. You watch the movie and your really dwelled up in whats going on but the movie ends to quickly and veiwers are left with many questions. It just didn't end the way it should have. The final conclusion doesn't really tie much together and thats what really kills "Twelve". Sure, its badly acted for the most part, but, its entertaining none-the-less. Its worth the one time watch.
-
Gossip Girl meets Limitless in this clever, fast-paced, independent drama by Joel Shumacher. The story follows Manhattan's elite teenage population and illustrates how even the wealthy aren't immune to the problems of the big city. The film has a ton of characters and is… More
Gossip Girl meets Limitless in this clever, fast-paced, independent drama by Joel Shumacher. The story follows Manhattan's elite teenage population and illustrates how even the wealthy aren't immune to the problems of the big city. The film has a ton of characters and is cleverly narrated by Kiefer Sutherland, who helps us keep everything straight. Twelve refers to a new designer drug on the street and the film centers around High School drop out, White Mike (Chance Crawford), who is connected to just about every one. Forced by unforeseen circumstance, White Mike has become their dealer and has all the dirt on these elite people. As for the story, it's a complicated, winding tale, that I honestly found to be intriguing. Crawford is phenomenal as the center piece to everything and finally proves that's he's not just a pretty face. A former model, Crawford has gained popularity as one of the leads in Gossip Girl and it has been said, on more than one occasion, that his looks are the reason, but he proves them all wrong with a gutsy and amazing performance in Twelve. As for the rest of the cast, it's such an amazing random mix of people that you can't help but fall in love with it. In Twelve, there are appearances from everyone from 50 cent to Macaulay Culkin's little brother, Dewey from Malcolm In The Middle, and even Lenny Kravitz's daughter. You never know whose going to show up and what their story might be. Twelve is one of the smartest and most innovative dramas I've seen in years and has earned the rare honor of being called a can't miss film!
-
The film was so so. It kind of felt like the movies Less Than Zero or Traffic, but those films were much better than this one. Kiefer Sutherland's narration was not necessary. If they were to have a narration, it should have been by Chace Crawford. Actingwise, Crawford, Emma… More
The film was so so. It kind of felt like the movies Less Than Zero or Traffic, but those films were much better than this one. Kiefer Sutherland's narration was not necessary. If they were to have a narration, it should have been by Chace Crawford. Actingwise, Crawford, Emma Roberts, and Rory Culkin are very good in the film.
-
Good for a teen drama about drugs, The voice-over narrative gets a little drawn out and monotonous, especially with Kiefer Sutherland's voice, but the teen acting is done well with a lot of new faces. I am liking Emma Roberts more every time I see her now that she is acting in… More
Good for a teen drama about drugs, The voice-over narrative gets a little drawn out and monotonous, especially with Kiefer Sutherland's voice, but the teen acting is done well with a lot of new faces. I am liking Emma Roberts more every time I see her now that she is acting in adult-ish roles.
-
Great voice-over narration. That part was well written. And that's really about the only thing positive I can say about this flick. Chace Crawford did exhibit some star power, however, but, beyond that, the story was uninteresting and pointless.
-
This Joel Shumacher-directed, Kiefer Sutherland-narrated drama follows a former Upper East Side boy named White Mike (Chace Crawford), whose family is bankrupted and forced to downgrade. Mike turns to drug dealing to his former peers.
The best way to describe this film is Kids meets… More
This Joel Shumacher-directed, Kiefer Sutherland-narrated drama follows a former Upper East Side boy named White Mike (Chace Crawford), whose family is bankrupted and forced to downgrade. Mike turns to drug dealing to his former peers.
The best way to describe this film is Kids meets Gossip Girl, but exchange the strong sexual content for drugs and exchange the heavy use of internet and cellular communication for gun violence.
I get what Schumacher was attempting: show the sordid, amoral lives of the children of the fabulously wealthy of the Upper East Side of New York. He was trying to show you how sad these kids really are inside and they cover it by projecting vapid exteriors..and doing lots of drugs. It came off as very melodramatic instead. I couldn't sympathize with a single character, not even Mike. It felt like everyone was trying to hard to look artsy and deep and the fact that Crawford plays a formerly bankrupt teen from the Upper East Side on Gossip Girl (no less!) made it hard to separate his turn as a drug dealer from his himbo television character. And I guess Schumacher thought he could add a bit of street cred to the film by adding 50 Cent. Honestly, he could've put any rapper in here and it wouldn't have made too big a difference to the film. He felt like part of the scenery instead of an actual character. And Sutherland's narrations just felt odd at certain points, specifically when reading the shallow thoughts of some of the main characters. This film fell flat. It will put you to sleep.
-
Twelve was a sort teenage drug movie, that relied on constant narration from a third person perspective, in this case Keifer Sutherland.It was because the script did not feel strong enough to carry the characters thoughts and feelings. My conclusion of this movie was, there were some… More
Twelve was a sort teenage drug movie, that relied on constant narration from a third person perspective, in this case Keifer Sutherland.It was because the script did not feel strong enough to carry the characters thoughts and feelings. My conclusion of this movie was, there were some subplots that seemed to drag around with no point in terms. Instead, Kiefer Sutherland ended the movie by saying some life and death bullshit that seems totally irrelevant to the majority of the subplots.Twelve referred to a fictional drug taken by one of the movies characters, but it was rarely mentioned and seemed to have no meaning to the movie.Trash.......
Read all 13 featured audience ratings
Currently unavailable on Flixster
Also available on
Other Retailers
Subscription Services