Way Past Cool

Imagine Spanky, Alfalfa and the rest of the Little Rascals waving guns, sucking down 40s of malt liquor and using language that would set Miss Crabtree's hair on fire: That's the unsettling tone Adam Davidson brings to his adaptation of Jess Mowry's award-winning 1994 novel about a group of seventh graders growing up too fast on the mean streets of Oakland. Pudgy Gordon (Jonathan Roger Neal), goofy twins Ric and Rac (D'andre and D'esmond Jenkin), sensitive rasta-boy Curtis (Partap Khalsa) and wise-beyond-his-years Lyon (Wes Charles Jr.) have grown up watching each other's backs in a neighborhood where walking to school can be a life-or-death adventure. On the ...