Taylor-Wood dubiously color-codes a mother/whore tug-of-war by dressing sexless brunette Scott Thomas in drab brown tones, while the liberated, redheaded Duff dons bright patterned dresses (and suggestively smooches her son with wet crimson lips). Meanwhile, dreamboat Johnson is saddled with a character whose every utterance and sartorial choice rings with the promise of legend. Why couldnt God make me Elvis? the rocker-in-training asks Julia, who teleports an answer from the future: Because he was saving you for John Lennon. Yet not even God could save the future Beatles adolescent heartbreak from downgrading to a tasteful, toe-tapping period drama.
Oct. 15-21, 2010