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Standing Tall probes children’s services the good stuff

STANDING TALL (Emmanuelle Bercot). Subtitled. 120 minutes. Opens Friday (August 19). See listing. Rating: NNN

Movies about young offenders typically set out to trash an unfair justice system, but Emmanuelle Bercots agenda is the opposite. She wants to honour the compassionate workers in child services, her method the meticulous chronicling of the case of one wayward teen.

We first meet Malony as a six-year-old in the chambers of judge Florence Blaque (Catherine Deneuve), where the boys mother (Sara Forestier) addicted to drugs and nasty guys begs for the chance to dump her little monster. Later, hes a teenager jacking cars and succumbing to some serious anger issues.

The film tracks his encounters with the judge, who tries to keep him out of jail, and his relationship with his social worker, Yann (Benoit Magimel).

Though its fun, and slightly disconcerting, to see Deneuve in matron mode, the key elements here is the incendiary performance of newcomer Rod Paradot as Malony, and, from a narrative standpoint, the incredible equanimity with which his counsellors deal with his rages.

The pics too long, and at a certain point the tantrums get a little tiresome, but thats not the fault of Paradot, who knows how to show flashes of softness when the script allows.

But its a creeper, too. I didnt think I was absorbed in the story until I was choking back tears at the end.

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