Mid90s                 3 ½ stars

Mid90s is the first writing and directing effort by actor Jonah Hill who is known for early comic roles like Superbad, and then later more serious movies like Moneyball.  Mid90s is about a young 13 year old boy, Stevie (played by Sunny Suljik) who lives with his single mother and older brother Ian (Lucas Hedges).  Stevie is often abused by brother Ian and doesn’t have any friends so he is naturally drawn to a group of older boys who hang out at a local sporting goods store and spend their time skate boarding at a popular skate board park.  These older boys (Ray, Rueben, Fuckshit and Fourth Grade) give little Stevie the attention he wants and introduce him to cigarettes, booze and girls.  Though they are not really great model influences, Stevie gets a real connection with them.  There is nothing particularly ground breaking or especially original about Hill’s film and it is very short at less than one and a half hours; however, most of it seems real as the characters appear like real people.  The ending felt a little predictable, but if this movie is any indication we can expect some interesting projects coming from Jonah Hill in the future.