BRUISER

Here's the decision. BRUISER is a genuinely good family drama — well acted, well written, beautifully shot — about a 14-year-old boy pulled between the stepfather who raised him and the biological father who didn't. Its heart is surprisingly biblical, and its central mother is a woman of real faith. There's enough here to move you.

Two things hold it back. First, the language: this movie is so peppered with strong foul language — around 40 "f" words — that it becomes distracting, and it feels bolted onto the script rather than earned. Second, the ending simply doesn't resolve the conflicts it raises. You're left hanging, as if you've watched Part 1 of a series that never arrives.

So this is one to catch at home, where you control the volume and your own expectations — and only if you're an adult or older teen who can stomach the language. The craft is real; the payoff isn't.

Home from his expensive city prep school for vacation, 14-year-old Darious finds himself friendless. His father, Malcolm, a car salesman, is strict, busy and aloof. His Christian mother, Monica, is loving but a little suffocating.

Then a mysterious drifter named Porter drifts into his life — a man who may be more than he seems. As Darious is drawn toward someone "cool" rather than someone of good character, a question hangs over everything: has he made a mistake he'll come to regret? That's where we stop.

Three stars, and here's what they mean. The cinematography, writing and acting are all good, and there's just enough development of the major characters to make the story genuinely interesting. Monica, Darious's mother, is the best-drawn character in the film — a real person, faith and all. When the movie is working, it works.

But the other production values are only middling, and one flaw is fatal to the experience: the ending doesn't resolve the conflicts and problems the story raises. It's extremely frustrating, leaving the movie feeling incomplete — as if it's the first installment of a series that was never finished. A strong three-star effort undercut by a non-ending and a script drowning in profanity.

The surprise of BRUISER is how biblical its bones are. The dominant worldview is a strong moral one with real Christian elements, anchored in Monica, a woman of genuine faith. A crucifix hangs in her car; she attends church faithfully. Facing the hardest situation a mother can face — the return of the man who abandoned her son — she offers a fairly biblical perspective: "Let's just be good to Porter, and the Lord will be good to us."

The family relationships, too, are drawn with unusual maturity. Darious's mother, stepfather and father discuss their problems together and try to give him real emotional support and parental guidance. The film doesn't pretend everyone behaves well. The wayward father carries a rough upbringing into how he treats his son. Darious himself often disrespects his mother and stepfather, in words and physically — but the story never condones it; it simply shows a confused boy. And Porter, for all his understandable longing to know his son, plainly doesn't have the boy's best interests at heart, encouraging him to disobey his parents and leading him into trouble. "That's just my life philosophy," Porter says of himself. "Everybody's got one." It's a reckless philosophy, and it drives the film's third-act crisis.

Monica's line is nearly a paraphrase of a promise: "we know that for those who love God all things work together for good" (Romans 8:28). The film reaches for that trust even when its characters — and its ending — fall short of it.

BRUISER has a mother worth watching, a moral heart you won't expect, and real craft behind the camera. It also drowns in profanity and ends without ending. So here's our answer, the same one we opened with: wait for home — adults only. Looking for something the whole family can enjoy instead? Try our latest family-friendly picks.