Synopsis
Thirteen-year-old Ernest Chin lives and works at a sleazy hourly-rate motel on a strip of desolate suburban bi-way. Misunderstood by his family and blindly careening into puberty, Ernest befriends Sam Kim, a self-destructive yet charismatic Korean man who has checked in. Sam teaches the fatherless boy all the rites of manhood.
Scores
Overall Score
36.1
Popularity Percentile (Year)
27.6%
Box Office Percentile (Year)
25.4%
Review Aggregate
74.1
Critic Consensus
Critic reception is largely positive, with 88% of 32 logged reviews marked Fresh. Across reviews, critics repeatedly emphasize coming of age, family-friendly, character-driven. Most critics frame the film as an effective delivery of its core style and intent.
coming of agefamily-friendlycharacter-drivengrittyvisually strikingfunny
Cast
| Cast | Year | Reported Salary | Inflation Adjusted | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeffrey Chyau | 2006 | $1,000 | $1,000 | (est) |
| Sung Kang | 2006 | $0 | $1,000 | (est) |
| Jade Wu | 2006 | $0 | $1,000 | (est) |
| Samantha Futerman | 2006 | $0 | $0 | (est) |
Aggregated Reviews
Rotten Tomatoes critic score88.0
RT critic review count32
Rotten Tomatoes audience score64.0
RT audience rating count2,500
IMDb rating6.6
IMDb votes1,452
Box Office ?
| Category | Year | Reported | Inflation Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | 2006 | $51,540 | $80,199 |
| International | 2006 | N/A | N/A |
| Worldwide | 2006 | $51,540 | $80,199 |
Earnings / Profitability
| Category | Year | Reported | Inflation Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues | |||
| Theatrical Net Revenue | 2006 | $25,770 | $40,099 |
| Digital Rentals ? | 2006 | $105,000 | $163,385 |
| Digital Purchases ? | 2006 | $32,000 | $49,794 |
| Physical Rentals ? | 2006 | $3,331,000 | $5,183,208 |
| Physical Purchases ? | 2006 | $7,858,000 | $12,227,454 |
| TV & Streaming Revenue | 2006 | $75,000 | $116,704 |
| Total Revenues | 2006 | $11,426,770 | $17,780,644 |
| Expenses | |||
| Budget ? | 2006 | $250,000 (est) | $389,013 (est) |
| Print & Advertising (P&A) ? | 2006 | $80,000 (est) | $124,484 (est) |
| Participations | 2006 | $457,000 | $711,116 |
| Residuals ? | 2006 | $828,000 | $1,288,411 |
| Interest & Overhead | 2006 | $50,000 | $77,803 |
| Total Expenses | 2006 | $1,665,000 | $2,590,826 |
| Movie Net Profit or Loss | 2006 | $9,761,770 | $15,189,818 |
Similar Movies
| Poster | Movie | Year | Match | Overall | Est. Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Up | 2009 | Shared genres: 2 | 97.7 | $103,203,496 |
 | Inside Out | 2015 | Shared genres: 2 | 97.4 | $115,137,525 |
 | Knives Out | 2019 | Shared genres: 2 | 96.6 | $77,594,195 |
 | Dead Poets Society | 1989 | Shared genres: 2 | 96.5 | $108,454,614 |
 | The Truman Show | 1998 | Shared genres: 2 | 96.5 | $82,922,196 |