The Adventures of Sebastian Cole

Sebastian chooses to live with his step dad, Hank, who's fast on his way to becoming Henrietta, and to graduate high school early so he can have adventures and become a writer.

This movie successfully renders a young man's last troubled year in high school without stooping to such heavy handed tactics as voice overs and the like. Adrian Grenier, as Sebastian, is remarkable.

Sebastian Cole stars Adrien Grenier (Drive Me Crazy) as a teen struggling to come to grips with his father's transsexualism.

Director Tod Williams maintains a nice semi-comedic, yet always surefooted tone, which keeps the film grounded, yet also prevents it from becoming too serious.

Grenier too often reminds us of a run-of-the-mill wise street-kid type, not too dissimilar from his role in Drive Me Crazy. Yet, he is effective in both films and has considerable appeal.

The film is at times uneven as we follow the antics of Grenier, along with his longtime buddies, his "girlfriend" Mary, and the rest of his family. Yet, the movie does a good job in its depiction of several disparate family members trying to cope with a family crisis.

Despite a vague ending and the occasional unevenness mentioned above, the film is worth seeing for its honesty and candid portrayal of a father struggling with his sexuality and how it affects the family unit.

Far from flawless, yet ultimately convincing.

Sebastian Cole (Adrian Grenier) is a teenager of seventeen years old, living in a small town with his mother Joan Cole (Margaret Colin), his stepfather Hank (Clark Gregg) and his sister Jessica (Marni Lustig). His father Hartley (John Shea) is an architect and his grandparents are persons very traditional, conservatives and arrogant. One day, his stepfather gathers the family and informs that he will make an operation for changing his sex. This communication is enough to leave the members of the family astonished and break the structure of the family. Jessica decides to leave home immediately with her boyfriend. Joan decides to move to England with Sebastian. A few months later, Sebastian decides to come back to USA and to live with his stepfather, now called Henriette. He joins the high school and becomes a very rebel teenager, certainly affected by the whole situation, shocking the elders in most of his attitudes. This low budget and independent movie has a very original screenplay. The excellent cast and direction are sharp. The story is not indicated for all audiences, but the viewer who appreciates a different story will have the chance to watch a good movie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Febre de Viver" ("Fever of Living"

Rarely does a film capture with any kind of authenticity the subtleties of the qualities of a particular time and place. When it does so it is something that can be appreciated not for standing out from the story but for becoming integral to the fabric of the narrative. The "Adventures of Sebastian Cole" achieves this rare unity of time, place, character and story and it does so in the most unassuming way. The atmosphere of Sebastian's world is undeniably one of normalcy and yet it is also undeniably beautiful and rich with possibilities for anything. In this world even the smallest of pleasures, the smallest of adventures takes on a sublime quality and seems ready to infect the future of the character with an understanding and appreciation of his youth. We can appreciate everything about this story for being small and unassuming and yet alive. Sebastian's confusion and "posing" seem somehow sincere and he remains likeable as the protagonist. As the story unfolds, watching Sebastian Cole lead his life of adventure, no one could possibly feel unable to identify. There is something very genuine in the story and lives of the characters. At the same time there is a deep sense of loss, of delusion, of dislocation. There is something intangible about this film, something that goes beyond story and plot. The characters are both likeable and despicable. The acting is almost flawless and a pleasure to watch, Clark Gregg is never over the top in his role as Hank/Henrietta. There is very little moralizing, very little hitting over the head with a message. The story is presented as a slice of life and we are allowed to fill in the blanks and make judgments for ourselves. It is, overall, a film that reminds you a life is always a complicated, disappointing and wonderful thing and always what you make it.

The film is criticized for not going anywhere, but I think this is because some critics can't handle a storyline that doesn't have an action-based, simplified plot. The story is coherent and flows well. There is no wasted time - small moments are significant. The visual symbolism (such as the arrow that falls between Sebastian and Mary) is fantastic, as is the dialogue. There is no empty imagery.

Many films rely too much of the visual element. The writing was great, and so was the camera work. And the acting. Bravo to the whole crew.

I hope that Tod Williams is in it for the long haul and writes _and_ directs more work of his own, and soon. If someone out there knows him and thinks he needs an ego boost on a bad day, please pass this along.