Nearing Grace

A teenage boy tries to hold his family together while the girl of his dreams drives him to distraction in this coming-of-age comedy drama. It’s 1978, and Henry Nearing (Gregory Smith) and his family are in a state of flux. Henry’s mother has died, and now his father, Shep (David Morse), is trying to find himself by quitting his job, buying a motorcycle, and growing out his hair. Henry’s brother, Blair (David Moscow), is similarly trying to expand his boundaries by dating a free-spirited girl and experimenting with drugs. Henry, meanwhile, is just trying to get through high school, but a certain girl is making that difficult for him. Grace Chance (Jordana Brewster) is a pretty girl in Henry’s class who enjoys wrapping boys around her little finger; it doesn’t take long for her to notice he’s smitten with her, and she begins flirting with him and getting him to do whatever she wants, even though she already has a boyfriend whom she has no intention of leaving. Meanwhile, Merna (Ashley Johnson), a cute girl who lives nearby, has a crush on Henry and is clearly a better match for him, but she can’t get him to notice her, even after she starts dating an older boy to make him jealous. Nearing Grace received its world premiere at the 2005 Los Angeles Film Festival., Compelling coming-of-age piece, set in 1978 New Jersey, featuring an outstanding young cast lead by Gregory Smith. He plays a high-school senior coping with the loss of his mother and dealing with an attraction to a comely beauty (Jordana Brewster) while ignoring the lovely young lady (Ashley Johnson) who is in love with him. Directed by Rick Rosenthal, and written by Jacob Aaron Estes, who adapted Scott Sommer’s novel “Nearing’s Grace.” David Morse, David Moscow, Sharon Lawrence, Shannon Doyle.