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Poster for The Toy Soldiers

The Toy Soldiers

2014 · 2h 23m · R Drama
Directed by Erik Peter Carlson

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Overview

On one evening in a decade of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, the innocence of youth and family unravels. Five parallel coming-of-age stories dramatize the stages of grief. A youthful mother in a custody battle over her children, finds tranquility with the bottle. The abuse of her ex-husband still haunts the children; a nineteen year old drug addict, and his younger brother, a bullied closet homosexual.There's the story of the dog; a teen who offers sexual favors to gain acceptance, the challenged classmate who would do anything for her love, and the redhead beauty, haunted by a secret, tragic past. These lives and others will change forever on this final evening before their hangout, The Toy Soldiers Roller Rink, closes its doors for the final time.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
Rotten

With its stilted monologues and crudely melodramatic air of "shocking realism," Erik Peter Carlson's sophomore feature feels like a series of interlocking fringe-theater one-acts that have only grown more artificial onscreen.

Dennis Harvey, Variety
Rotten

More is decidedly less in "The Toy Soldiers," an unfortunate, way overlong ensemble melodrama nominally set in mid-1980s Southern California.

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
Rotten

As compelling as an individual thread or scene might be, the picture as a whole lacks forward momentum, as is often the case with films with asynchronous timelines.

Sherilyn Connelly, Village Voice

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