The Wood (1999)

The movie opens during the frenzied preparations for a wedding later in the day -- the only hitch is that the groom (Taye Diggs, mmm...) is nowehere to be found. His two buddies are dispatched to track him down and the rest of the movie flip-flops between the present and the early years of the trio's friendship, which started during middle school.

The flashback scenes are completely winning. The teens are all natural actors and the coming of age story felt both familiar (from personal experience) and fresh. If only we could've stayed there. The grown-up versions of the boys -- the groom especially -- were boring ciphers. And we weren't given nearly enough information about his bride-to-be to care whether or not he could be reeled back in.

And is there anything more cringe-inducing than an actor pretending to be drunk badly? Diggs may look fine, but his silly stumbling attempt to convince us he's intoxicated was just embarrassing.

C+