Tiger Eyes (opens in Mentor, OH June 7th exclusively at Atlas Cinemas Great Lakes 16)

[TIGER EYES opens in the Cleveland area on Friday June 7th exclusively at the Atlas Cinemas Great Lakes 16 in Mentor.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

You really don't see too many movies geared towards kids and young adults that actually treat their audience with respect and intelligence get a theatrical release these days. Movies that deal with the sort of difficult issues real kids deal with in actual real life just don't bring in the kind of box office haul that movies about wizards and jailbait-chasing vampires do. That's the business, of course, but when a movie like TIGER EYES does manage to sneak onto a few screens, usually with little fanfare, I like to do my part to let those who might find such a change of pace refreshing know about it.

TIGER EYES is mainly about how teenage girl Davey (Willa Holland) deals with the shooting death of her father. After the tragedy, Davey's mom Gwen (Amy-Jo Johnson) is a wreck. Leaving Atlantic City behind, the family (which also includes Davey's younger brother Jason, played by Lucien Dale) goes to live in Los Alamos with Gwen's sister Bitsy (Cynthia Stevenson) and brother-in-law Walter (Forrest Fyre) hoping to put their lives back together. However tensions in the extended family, in large part brought on by Bitsy's overprotective nature and Walter's general assholishness, make matters worse rather than better. The one bright spot is the native American boy who calls himself Wolf (Tatanka Means) that Davey has a “meet cute” with.

Judy Blume adaptation 'Tiger Eyes' opens at Atlas Cinemas in Mentor June 7th

[Press release from Prodigy PR.]

TIGER EYES,  the first major motion picture adaptation from the work of iconic author Judy Blume, will be opening June 7^th at Atlas Cinemas Great Lake 16, 7860 Mentor Avenue, Mentor, OH 44060.  Judy Blume, whose books have sold more than 82 million copies in 41 countries, makes the transition to film with the help of her son Lawrence Blume, who directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay.  The film stars Willa Holland, Amy Jo Johnson, Cynthia Stevenson, Tatanka Means, Elise Eberle and Russell Means.

In the film Willa Holland plays Davey, a 17 year-old girl abruptly relocated by her grieving mother to the strange “atom bomb” town of Los Alamos, New Mexico. With the sudden and violent death of her father, the displaced Davey no longer knows who to be or how to fit in. Everything that once mattered suddenly seems insignificant. But when she meets Wolf, a mysterious young Native-American, while exploring the surrounding canyons, she feels he is able to see past her pain and into her true self. The connection they make brings Davey back from the edge and sets her on a journey from heartbreak and confusion to life and love after tragedy.