The Crush (I) (2010) User Reviews

A good film but probably the weakest of the Oscar-nominated batch.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 13 February 2011]

Well, I just got back from my yearly pilgrimage to see the nominees for the Best Live Action Academy Award. Compared to other years, this is an interesting field, as I actually liked all the films and see there being no clear winner. Usually I have at least a few of them I don't particularly like but this is a good crop...but there also is no clearly 'perfect' film as well. So, in light of this, my predicting that "The Confession" will be the most likely of the films to win is not at all certain--as I see this as mostly a three film race but any of the five could easily win.

The film begins with a cute kid (Ardal) announcing to his pretty teacher that he was in love with her. However, this is not a typical sort of crush, as the kid buys the lady a ring and writes a date in his planner when he anticipates marrying her in ten years! Later, when the boy and his mother see the teacher with her new fiancé, the boy is crushed--and angered because the fiancé seemed a bit insensitive towards her. How the kid resolves all this is just plain crazy--and left me very, very cold and a bit confused. Was it advocating gun violence or saying the kid's behavior was good?! What about a woman who could condone this? I just felt very conflicted over this one and felt this 'surprise twist' made the film almost impossible to believe--though the acting and direction were still very good.

I think "The Crush" is the least likely of the five films to win and although I liked the film and greatly respect it, it had some plot problems that left me a bit confused. Up until the very end, I loved the film but the final confrontation scene left me wondering many things--and I hated the response by the teacher as it seemed to make no sense and seemed a bit vicious and bizarre. I'd say more, but it would give away too much of the plot...but it just seemed like the wrong way to end this film.

We Need To Talk About Ardal

[sashank_kini-1 · 7/10 · 9 February 2012]

I still remember my first crush; it was in the first grade, and her name was Ms. Heather. I especially loved her smile, and she was probably in her forties still quite lovely. I even condoned her act of slapping my friend, even though her nails hit his eye and he began weeping. To me she was a cherished rose; even in the second grade, I used to smile at her whenever I passed by her class. Then it stopped, I don't remember when.

The Crush has happened with many boys, and it is usually the class teacher. But most, probably all, ended with it being a mere memory once they have been promoted to the next grade. The movie however takes a different approach to the storyline and it is not completely implausible – many such cases do pop up in the newspapers. However, the explanation offered in the end by the short is bewildering; I think the boy would have to be super-intelligent to think of such a scheme. I am not going to disclose the ending here, but up till then, the movie does work fine. I especially loved the scene in which the kid uses a swear word and instantly apologizes to his teacher. Another good thing was to have such close shots during the scene, similar to western films. The boy however should have been in the third or fourth grade as that is when, I feel many boys are fascinated by guns and such things.

I will not denounce the entire movie because of the ending, because it is a good watch, especially during the confrontation. Also, the acting is competent, especially Rory Keenan. The ending does dampen the effect though, and the 'ball rolling' scene looked silly.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10

losing the plot

[LunarPoise · 6/10 · 28 February 2013]

A primary school boy has a crush on his teacher. This starts out like many a crush, but soon escalates into something more deadly...

This film works well when the boy and the teacher dominate the first two-thirds. The scenes are naturalistic and endearing. A precocious turn by Oran Creagh as the besotted but unnervingly mature Ardal Travis keeps us hooked. Olga Wehrly as the put-upon teacher is full of liberal good intentions while simultaneously not quite grasping the full import of what is going on right in front of her eyes.

Unfortunately, the film starts to unravel when The Boyfriend (Rory Keenan hamming it up) appears. What has been sweet and episodic till this point becomes forced and caricatured. The Boyfriend is just too much of a pantomime villain. Had he been more well-drawn, the audience would be asking, "Will the teacher realise he is no good for her?" It would then be down to the boy to bring that about. As it is, he is so in-your-face loutish that the audience instead asks, "What is WRONG with this woman that she cannot see what a dick-head this guy is!?"

And he is a dick-head. The boy says so. Which brings me to my other problem with this film, the jarring switch in tone in the last third. Till that point, I was thinking this was something I could show to my primary-school age kids. Then someone decides it is funny to have a kid use naughty words (always a sign of juvenile filmmakers). After that, it descends into amateurish self-indulgence. The gunshot/ball roll is weak. Having the teacher use the word 'kiddie fiddler' is just crass and totally out of tune with the tone of the first two thirds.

A shame really, because the film builds so well and unearths real talent in the boy. Maybe they thought they had to be 'edgy' with their ending, but it comes off as a lack of confidence and control in the filmmakers. All in all, a missed opportunity.

He looks very pure and cute, but...

[safrannene · 7/10 · 7 February 2014]

A boy's dream is to marry his elementary school teacher. He gives her a ring and tells his love, but she has a fiancé. The boy meets the rival, and decides to fight a duel.

No one thinks the young student can marry his teacher, even if he has a crush on her seriously. So, at first, I think the story is funny and fantastic. I like the scene that he writes down his wish for marriage as a plan in 2015. He looks very pure and cute for me. Generally speaking, a child gets more serious when he is treated as a child or ignored by grown-ups. The boy in the film is not an exception, and he acts in an excessive way. I have to admit that the story is serious, not only fantastic.

The message in the film is "Don't make light of children."

The Crush

[ayuppe003 · 20 July 2013]

This is the story about a little boy. He loves his teacher. He gives a ring for her, and promises to get marry. However she has a boyfriend. They decide their marrying. He does not like that. One night, his father hides the gun in the closet. The little boy sees it. He decides he will kill teacher's boyfriend. What will happen to them??

I like this story. The little boy is so cute. I think this movie is easy to understand, if you cannot understand English. It is because this movie is so kind. Expressions of the little boy are a lot. I like the scene that the little boy is peevish. He said he wants to get marry with his teacher, but he saw she dates with other man. I think he really loves her. I wish they marry when the little boy is able to marry to age.

If you watch this movie, you will be happy. The boy is so cute. Check it out.

Not bad

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 12 May 2016]

"The Crush" is an Irish 15-minute live action short film that was nominated for an Academy award 5 years ago. All in all, I would say I am fine with the film getting such an honor. It's not as good as the winner ("God of Love"), but still good. The story is told interestingly and yes the way the teacher and her boyfriend split up in that situation was a bit too melodramatic for my taste, but I can ignore that as the shooting sequence before that was pretty good I must say. I just wished the filmmaker here would have gone slightly more for drama over comedy as with the ending it becomes obvious that this film is at least 80% comedy. With filmmaker I mean writer and director Michael Creagh. I find it a bit sad that he has not made any other films or even short films since this one here as I can see some talent for sure. Overall, I guess I recommend the watch and I hope we will see a bit more from Creagh in the future at some point.

The Crush

[rumi-s0507 · 10/10 · 21 August 2013]

This is the story about the boy who is in love with his homeroom teacher. He loves her very much and proposes to her. As a matter of course, she doesn't take it seriously. Moreover, the boy knows that she has a fiancé.

I like this movie very very much because the boy who is the chief character in this film is very cute. In addition, the imaging technique is also good. For example, the picture becomes slow in the scene where the boy admires her. Though it is the ending that I can expect somehow, it is very interesting and makes me happy. I wonder whether he saw through the true nature of the man from the beginning. Surely the boy is in new love sometime. But I wish the boy marries to her when he grows up. I want to see the sequel which is about the near future of the boy.

Nice ending

[b-96128 · 7/10 · 3 March 2019]

Tricking the audience is one of the qualifications of exciting and impressing films, and this short film: The Crush is very good at it. There is an elementary school boy who is having a crush on his female teacher, and one day she gives her a ring of toy. She is very happy about it, but she does not take it seriously and she keeps treating as a kid. Also, she has a boyfriend. One day, the boy calls out her boyfriend personally with a gun and he tries him to promise he doesn't marry her because the boy thinks he doesn't deserve it. Since the boyfriend is terrified by the gun, he said very inappropriate things and made her disappointed. The pure crush of one guy reveals the bad guy's innermost nature. Including audience, everybody thinks that the gun is a real, but actually is a toy until the end. One of the reasons why audience is tricked is because of intentionally showed the scene of the boy's father hiding his gun, and the boy watches it. I learned the filmmaker can use any scene for reasoning main characters' behavior.

pure feeling of the little boy

[doncns · 9/10 · 30 September 2013]

The little boy who is an elementary school student falls in love with his teacher and he proposes to her, but she has a fiancé. Then, the little boy started revenge when he sees hers fiancé. This film is depicts pure feeling of the little boy and heart warming story. I think the little boy is very brave and very cute. So, I like this film. The little boy's bravery and the fiancé's weakness were contrasted greatly. If a favorite person has a fiancé, I think almost all people will give up, but this boy has conveyed his feeling to the teacher, without giving up. We can remember the pure feeling which we are forgetting by seeing this film.

far from reality

[silvayuki · 7/10 · 1 March 2019]

The short film, The Crush is the story about a boy who likes his school teacher. As a first expression to this film, I thought it is far from reality since very brave boy beats an adult with a toy gun. In reality, definitely few children can behave bravely just like as the boy. However, there is no doubt that this is the interesting point of this film. When the teacher gets a ring from the boy at the beginning, her attitude is like she just goes along with him. On the contrary, I thought she recognizes the boy as a man in the end of the film. The man who is the fiancé of the teacher is described as a man of tragedy. He pleads for his life against a child and gives up the right to marry to the teacher. What a coward man he is. I think he becomes a good assistance to make the boy look better.

Unrealistic story filled with clichés

[velianne-87204 · 5/10 · 4 July 2018]

This short film tells the story of a young primary school boy who has developed a crush for his teacher. He sets his mind on being with her, bringing her a ring. Amused by the child's naivety, his teacher accepts the present and tells him she will think about the proposal. However, the next day while walking in the street, the boy encounters his teacher with another man, who she introduces as her fiancé. Hurt by his teacher's betrayal, the boy takes extreme measures to show his teacher that she shouldn't stay with her soon to be husband.

For several reasons I did not enjoy this short film, finding it too unrealistic to my taste. I was also triggered by the fact that it took quite lightly the issue of gun possession by children but also the position of women. Even though he is only a child and has yet to experience anything in life, the little boy is portrayed as the teacher's hero, knowing better what is good for her then herself, and saving her from her "horrible" fiancé. Some very clichéd stereotypes are also uttered, such as the fact that he can't be with her unless he can support her financially. I just really did not like the image relayed by the teacher, one of a damsel in distress, that needs to be taught how to make better choices in her life by an eight year old child. The boy is also portrayed in quite a disturbing matter. First in his way of speaking but also of course in his actions as he is threatening another man with a gun only to "get a woman". Overall, this short film did not initiate any feelings of enjoyment in me, just frustration over the characters portrayal and over the turn of events.

"A Heartrending Masterpiece: The Crush Delivers an Unforgettable Cinematic Experience"

[Pratyush003 · 10/10 · 1 October 2023]

"The Crush is an exquisite gem of storytelling, an emotional rollercoaster that tugs at the heartstrings and leaves an indelible mark on the soul. From its impeccable direction to the stellar performances, every frame exudes raw, heartfelt emotion, immersing the audience in a world where love and loss collide with breathtaking intensity. The cinematography is breathtaking, capturing the essence of the characters' emotions with unparalleled finesse. The script is masterfully crafted, weaving a tale that is both heartbreaking and uplifting, reminding us of the power of human connection. The actors deliver performances that are nothing short of brilliant, drawing viewers into their characters' pain and resilience. The Crush is a testament to the artistry of filmmaking, a flawless blend of storytelling, visuals, and emotion. It's a rare cinematic experience that resonates long after the credits roll, leaving an enduring impact. A true masterpiece that deserves every accolade it receives, earning a well-deserved 10/10."

good

[bastard-from-a-basket · 7/10 · 27 July 2012]

I found that this movie was nominated to Oscars and obviously I had great expectations. But it turned out to be a pretty Okay movie nothing so overwhelming about it. The story starts with a boy having his little crush on his teacher later he finds that she is about to marry another man. So the kid provokes him for one on one battle with the gun. Naturally the man took it lightly but it takes violent turn as the boy brings up his father's gun. The man is too much scared and he confesses his love for the teacher was just a made up obligations but it turns out to be a fake gun and the teacher leaves her fiancée This movie portrays childhood innocence and their insistence but it fairly has some plot holes. How can a second grader think like the boy did? is the question that pops on my head every time I think about this movie. But it's a well directed movie and an entertaining one .

Useless Movie

[mystic_sage_1791 · 3/10 · 20 April 2011]

I found this movie ridiculous. A kid who argues like and thinks like an adult, and the slow and stupid responses of the adults are just too unreal. When the kid was holding the gun, the woman could have easily snatched it away, and yet she just chose to sit and watch the drama. The dialogue of the man criticizing his girlfriend just before being shot also seems like it was forced so that a story would come out of it. It's an amateur film. I'm surprised it has such a high rating. There's nothing real or interesting in the movie. In the end, the kid conveniently decides not to marry her after all, after the entire drama.

Blush and Cover

[doctorsmoothlove · 30 May 2011]

A schoolboy apparently has the hots for his lovely elementary school teacher. Convinced he will marry her, the boy challenges her good-for-nothing fiancé to a duel. The battle begins, and the boy pulls out a pistol. He harasses the fiancé who confesses that he isn't ready to be married. He closes by saying that he hopes his teacher will find a better man. The movie is entirely guilty of exploiting its child character and doesn't have the conviction to actually conclude the story properly. It's about average when compared to the other shorts this year.

Not Recommended

This is pure LOVE

[faiij · 6/10 · 11 July 2018]

The crush is about an eight years old boy who have a crush on his teacher at school. However, he finds out that that teacher already has boyfriend. So, the boy challenges her boyfriend to duel with him. One first thing that I have to mention in this film is that it plays with the audience's feelings really well. Its tone changes rapidly but the audience are still able to understand what is going on now. The tone of movie starts with romantic film which a student falls in love with his teacher. His pure love to his teacher makes the audience want to support him since his pure actions are very pure and child-like. However, around the middle of the film when the boy knows that his teacher already has boyfriend, the atmosphere of the film starts to get darker and more suspense which makes the audience curious to know what is going to happen next. However, the weakness of this film is some actions are very nonsense and un realistic for me. I cannot stop thinking that if it was in real life, these characters would do different thing instead of in the movie.

I was tricked!

[tjch · 7/10 · 10 August 2017]

I was tricked until the last! At the beginning, I thought that the boy was crazy about his young and beautiful teacher, and he tried to rob her of her lover. However, it was wrong. The reason why this film could trick me is because the director can use sound and structure, in the other words, he or she succeeds in making good atmosphere. I was caught in the cleverly devised trap. Moreover, after watching this film, I re-thought that why I was tricked by the young swindler and the smart producer. After that, I hit upon an idea; it is pureness. In my opinion, youth like the boy never lies because of pureness. That means his action is directly related to what he wants to do. Therefore, I was tricked. Anyway, this movie entertains you, because until the last, the boy's behavior and the atmosphere of this film misleads you, and the last scene betrays your expectation or your prediction.

A Pure Heart of a Pure Boy

[AdamHawkes · 9/10 · 28 June 2013]

A student who is a little boy loves his homeroom teacher and makes a proposal of marriage to her. His dream is to get married to her, but it is broken easily. Actually, she has a fiancé and accidentally the boy witnesses them. He is shocked and decides to fight the fiancé with guns to get her. On the day when they battle, it results in an amazing end.

The boy is pure and maybe everyone has childhood like that. You have also loved your teacher - I know, I have. This film reminded me of my old memories therefore I was ashamed a little but missed it. The love of the boy is stronger than any other, and because of it his behavior is also passionate. There are a lot of things that I have to learn, such as how to approach a woman and what it is to love someone seriously.

This film is a very humorous and heart-warming one that represents feelings of little boys. If you watch this film, you might also remember your childhood and retake the pure heart that you had and is different from now.

The Crush

[curryandrice · 6/10 · 2 August 2014]

The boy is the hero in this movie, but I think the boy is horror. I think he overdone. If I love a teacher, I don't do as the boy. The boy is very young, but the boy know too much. I shudder with horror. , Actually, the boyfriend is a foolish, but I think the woman is a foolish too. The boy's thinking is strange. If the woman break him up, the boy will get angry and may kill her. I think so. First, it is strange that the young boy falls the middle- age woman in love really. Falling teacher in love is often happens, but their loves are not seriousness. Second, the boy tries to her boyfriend. The common young boy doesn't think it.

The crush

[shojijason · 10/10 · 5 September 2017]

This film is a story about a child falling in love into a teacher. This film was very scary but so sweet. I think Ardle was very smart to do this. At first, I guess he was really in love to the teacher but, he realized he can't marry her so changed his love to saving his teacher. The way he did it was a bit hard but I felt that his love is so strong. The man didn't have the feeling as Ardle.I thought it is very sweet to do things for people's happiness. It was a good point that he didn't change his feelings when his heart was broken, like some criminals and bad endings. I wish the film didn't show the gun until he and the man meet at the dark place. Because it would make it more horror and more like a surprise. It was good the boy's parents won't know what happened.

Putting adults to shame

[kazu-gaku · 7/10 · 24 July 2016]

This is the story which the boy puts the man to shame and becomes a hero. The boy is a student who loves his teacher. It is usually when the student loves their teacher. He tells his teacher his love to her, but his teacher receives his words like a joke. Of course he is shocked. In the scene, his cute face turns grim face. Till then he seems to talk her while being embarrassed, but the next day which he is shocked he seems to take not a interest in her. I think that he believes her words easily because he is a little child. She intends no offense. After all she harms him. The best point in this movie is that the boy puts her boyfriend to shame. It is excited because boyfriend is cornered and the boy let him say that the love to her is a lie. She gets angry of course, and the boy' face returns smiles. The boy becomes a hero for her.

What are these characters?

[dreameable · 5/10 · 18 June 2018]

The story is about an 8 years old schoolboy who falls in love with his teacher, and finds out that she engaged with her boyfriend. He thinks that her boyfriend is not good enough for the teacher, he challenges him to a duel to the death. The movie itself has a cloudy mood. We cannot predict the action of each character, making us concentrate to the story on see what is going to happen next. Even the setup does not seem to be a thriller movie, but it is definitely a thriller by the scenes being presented all along. However, I personally hate this kind of movie because the decision of every main character does not make any sense to me. After I finish watching it, instead of feeling with the character, I get annoyed by them at the end of the movie. In other word, I do not enjoy this movie at all.

SPOIL - Every character seem to be more stupid than the kids? 1. Father buy a model gun or kind of weapon model to his son is very weird 2. Teacher could have done something to the boy when he holing a gut pointing as someone 3. Teacher's boyfriend should only say "I won't marry her" to get out of the situation, no need to say such a thing that he actually think.

Thrilling

[yk-88 · 8/10 · 7 August 2013]

A young boy is fond of his school teacher, but she has a boyfriend.. After the boy realizes this fact, what is he going to do? Does he succeed to get her from her boyfriend? How will it end? In the film, there is one thing that we can learn other country's culture. It doesn't happen in Japan. I cannot say the thing, so I recommend you to watch it. I like the name of this film."THE CRUSH" means I think to fight with each other, and to like someone in one way. I don't know if it has several or different meanings, but for me, this title is amazing. On the other hand, it's very thrilling and scary for children to watch. Also it is not for education, I think. To sum up, I like this film. Although I watched it without English and Japanese subtitles, I understand the story. It means that it's easy to know the story, so I want to recommend it to my friends.

This story is shocking.

[matoryo3 · 7/10 · 4 September 2013]

A little boy falls in loves his teacher and he wants to marry her. One day, he meets her on the road by chance and he sees the teacher is with her husband. The boy feels jealous and he attempts to take her from the husband. In the last scene, the boy points a pistol to the husband and the husband thinks it is a real pistol so he accepts to part with her. However, it is just a toy pistol. The teacher is disappeared at her husband and finally she decides to part with him. What I liked in the movie is that the boy loves the teacher really and he tries to marry her. I thought the boy's pistol was real so I was surprised the boy fired the pistol at the husband. I felt easy to know it was a toy pistol.

The problem with guns in modern culture

[Jirorian · 1/10 · 6 June 2018]

'The Crush' plays with the notion of innocence in a highly romanticised light, clearly trying to bring back the lost bravado of the Western cowboy heroes from an older generation that the 8 year old protagonist - Ardal - idolises, looks up to for inspiration on his bedroom wall, admires through the veil of his father's dinner time stories (despite the ultimately futile warning from his mother), and eventually, to the anticipation of any viewer with a brain, goes on to mimic. This romanticisation is drastically dangerous territory that first-timer writer and director Michael Creagh was too ambitious in his entry into, because while the film feigns innocence in denying the convention that introducing a gun into a story will guarantee that someone will later die, the real victims of Ardal's toy gun are the children and teachers of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida; Marshall County High School, Kentucky; Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut; and the hundreds of school shootings by child perpetrators that have taken place since then. The reason is simply that films like 'The Crush' naively perpetuate the message that guns are the answer. Children will watch Ardal win over Pierce and mimic him, just as Ardal mimics his cowboy idols; and for Ardal to mimic cowboys and get away with it is to promote a telling of history that represses any plight for recognition and understanding that the Native Americans rightfully have claim to, exposing the deep extent to which violence and repression hold root to within modern culture. The problem is cultural, historical, and deeply rooted within the traditions that lead to the film's Oscar nomination. The moral responsibility artists have in providing snapshots of history that are not repressive in nature is for the sake of diminishing this problem, and in this light the innocence that 'The Crush' attempts to romanticise is ultimately its undoing.