Andrew Robinson, the writer/director of the upcoming “April Showers,” wants his film to re-start the dialogue that erupted following the Columbine High School massacre.
Robinson was a student at Columbine that awful day, and he made “Showers,” in part, so that today’s teens can explore the issues that led to the killings.
But as of now, teens won’t be able to see his new film.
“April Showers” has been slapped with an R rating, which means young adults won’t be able to see it without being accompanied by a parent.
It’s exactly what Robinson doesn’t want.
Here are the reasons, according to Robinson, his film earned an R rating:
- An R-rating would encourage parents to view April Showers, a high-impact, moving drama about real life, with their children so they could take a more active role in what their child may or may not being going through in their life or at school.
- The SWAT team depicted in the film do not appear to help dead or dying students.
- A main character dies on screen.
- A main character carries a person who may or may not already be dead.
“April Showers” is due to hit select theaters April 24, so hopefully either a cut or two in the film can be made, or the ever arbitrary ratings board will have a change of heart.
(Photo: A chaotic scene from “April Showers,” which details a Columbine-style shooting at an ordinary high school.)
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I'm an award-winning journalist and film critic with more than a decade of experience in newspapers, magazines and the Web. I'm a member of both the Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association and the Denver Film Critics Society.
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Something like 40,000 people die each year on the highway in this country. That’s over a hundred every day, many of whom are children. This fact is almost never mentioned in the media, as they prefer to ignore it and concentrate on pandering to their fear of guns and the fact that their neighbors are, horrors, free to buy them.