Whole New Thing (2005)

64% of critics liked it
(25 reviews)
53% of users liked it
(2,031 ratings)

A precocious teenage genius is suddenly forced to adapt to the real world, while the real world around him is having some growing pains of its own in this independent comedy drama from Canada. Emerson Thorsen (Aaron Webber) is an exceptionally talented and intelligent 13-year-old who has been raised… More A precocious teenage genius is suddenly forced to adapt to the real world, while the real world around him is having some growing pains of its own in this independent comedy drama from Canada. Emerson Thorsen (Aaron Webber) is an exceptionally talented and intelligent 13-year-old who has been raised and educated by his free-thinking parents ,Rog (Robert Joy) and Kaya (Rebecca Jenkins). While Emerson is clever, witty, and has recently written his first novel, he doesn't seem to have very good socialization skills when he spends time with others, and as he enters adolescence, Rog and Kaya decide to enroll him in public school so he can learn how to function with others (as well as patching up some gaps in his education). While most of Emerson's teachers are happy to have him in class, his ambiguous sexuality and tart intellectualism make him an immediate target for bullies in his small Nova Scotia town. Emerson's English teacher, Don Grant (Daniel MacIvor), has a bigger problem than most with his new student -- Emerson becomes quite infatuated with Don, and isn't at all shy about expressing his attraction, while the closeted Don is torn between a desire to return his advances and the knowledge that he'd be throwing away his career in education if he even acknowledged them. Whole New Thing received its world premier at the 2004 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 32 min.
Directed By: Amnon Buchbinder
Written By: Amnon Buchbinder
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 8, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Jul 31, 2007
Studio: Picture This! Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Kyle Smith, New York Post
The movie is both amusing and disturbing as it explores Emerson's lurching efforts to bond with his teacher.
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
These knots are all tied by the end, but not memorably so.
Albert Williams, Chicago Reader
This wry, tender 2005 Canadian comedy puts a fresh spin on the theme of adolescent sexual awakening.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
A gentle, perceptive Canadian film.
Rafer Guzman, Newsday
... promises slightly more than it delivers but still comes together nicely.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
If its portrait of hippie parents raising a misfit child has much in common with Rebecca Miller's Ballad of Jack and Rose, Whole New Thing refrains from going to the same extremes.
Don Willmott, Filmcritic.com
a small-scale film with big emotional payoffs.
Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Toronto-based filmmaker Amnon Buchbinder tackles the sensitive subject of adolescent sexuality in this winning coming-of-age character study set in a wintry small town in Nova Scotia.
Shlomo Schwartzberg, Boxoffice Magazine
Buchbinder displays an original filmic eye, but mostly Whole New Thing is a few drafts short of an emotionally fulfillilng feature.
David Noh, Film Journal International
But what's salutary about this effort is the canny intelligence and emotional understanding director Amnon Buchbinder has brought to the mostly well-wrought screenplay he wrote with MacIvor.
Phil Hall, Film Threat
The dialogue has a sour, sitcom ring that grows tiresome and irritating before the second reel.
Noel Murray, AV Club
With its narcissistic, not-as- sharp-as- he-thinks- he-is juvenile hero and weird approach to bridging the generation gap, Whole New Thing plays a lot like Wes Anderson's Rushmore, only sober instead of whimsical.
Tom Beer, Time Out New York
... well-intentioned but underwhelming ...
Pam Grady, Reel.com
The cast is uniformly excellent, but Webber in his first feature role is a stand out, delivering a subtle performance that offers a fully realized portrayal of a smart, sensitive, confused, and sometimes bratty and obnoxious youth.
Brian Orndorf, eFilmCritic.com
Buchbinder's direction creates a tremendous sense of location and adolescent awkwardness that blossoms beautifully during the picture.
Ron Wilkinson, Monsters and Critics
[The film] shows respect for open communications and differing life styles and lets the audience in on diverse feelings and ways of acting them out.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
Evinces an Ed Zwickian dramatic tenor that would probably scan better on ABC.