Nailed (review)

Bret is about as interested in living up to his father's ideal of working-class machismo as he is in worshiping the jockarchy that reigns in his high school. He's a drama guy, intent on pursuing a career in acting, even though this dream makes him a target for both the school bullies and his motorhead dad. Fortunately, it also attracts Kylee, the girl of his drama dreams, as well. He's also making a mark with his band, playing guerilla concerts in the parking lots of the school and local stores, but despite the success of these things that matter to him, he can't quite shake off the desire to be genuinely accepted for who he is, even if that identity is slightly out of the mainstream. As a result, he becomes increasingly belligerent in his stance against the bullies, and their attacks escalate. Meanwhile, Kylee's insatiable attention needs lead her to seek a new outlet as she senses that she is not Bret's whole world. His heartbreak sends him into the garage with his dad, and they begin to forge a strained and tenuous bond around the battering each has taken in his life. Though the prose is at times jerky, Bret's resistance to being satisfied with an outsider's existence will hit the target audience right in the gut; while outwardly, he has the things that could make him strong and happy—a career goal, an enviable sex life, and devoted friends—he struggles with the problem of feeling validated by people who should and shouldn't matter. The mutual respect that he and his dad begin to find for each other works itself out patiently and believably in course of a narrative that is steeped in a competitive and brutal guy world of fights, anger, sex, and rock and roll; that world is carefully tempered by the empathy and connection he finds with his friends, his mom, and finally his dad, who shares with him a love that is no less tender for all its grit.