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Tagged: The Jonathan Wamback Story

Wamback Story' (2001) is a Canadian film about teen violence and parental love. It's based on a true incident.

CR 125 CR125 SA SUCE

Jonathan Wamback starts his daily jog through the streets of his suburban neighbourhood. During his run he catches the eye of Courtney Henderson.

Shortly after, Jonathan and his best friend Tyler start their first day of high school, where Jonathan notices Courtney again.

As the boys are waiting to register, four members of a high school gang, Kyle Simpson, David Brooks, Trevor Smith, and Ben Luekens make a noisy entrance.

They waste no time ganging up on a small grade nine student, mocking and bullying him. Jonathan steps in to intervene and quickly makes an enemy of gang leader Kyle.

Intrigued by Jonathan's moxy, tough girl Courtney leads him away, both delighting Jon and angering Kyle.

Returning home from a workout, Lozanne Wamback, Jonathan's mom, encounters the gang members lighting cherry bombs in the park and harassing some small children.

Angered she follows Kyle home and attempts to speak to his mother about his behaviour. But Nora Simpson refuses to believe Lozanne and brushes her off. Lozanne tells Joe and Jon about the incident, but Joe is too busy to listen and dismisses her concerns, saying she's taking it too seriously.

The gang members use the basement of the Simpson house as a meeting place where it becomes clear that Kyle's mother Nora is in a state of denial about her son. While he and the gang members get high and listen to gangster rap music in the basement, Nora is oblivious to what her son is up to.

At school, Jon intervenes again as the gang members harass a younger student.

Afterward, he's approached by Gord Nelson and Jeff Walters, two cool guys who profess to be committed to standing up to Kyle's gang. They come across a Skulls tag (graffiti) spray-painted on a warehouse wall.

Jon impresses them when he climbs up and spray-paints over it, turning it into a sword ("tagged over" - thus Tagged).

They notify him that by doing so he's effectively declared war on the Skulls.

At a school dance the gang converges on Jon, suckering him into pushing Kyle to the ground. Kyle complains loudly to a pay duty cop monitoring the dance. The policeman refuses to listen to Jon's protests that the gang started the fight. He's put into the cruiser and taken home in disgrace.

Jon is frustrated as his parents refuse to listen to his side of the story. To make matters worse, at school Jon is now a marked man. The Skulls follow him into the school washroom where they rough him up and rip his shirt.

Just as they're about to attack him Gord and Jeff break in on the scene. With the odds evened-up the Skulls take off leaving Jon with a final threat. Outside the washroom Jon is stunned to see Courtney with Kyle - for the first time he realizes they're a couple.

At home Jon still finds no understanding from his parents. His father sees only a torn shirt in the garbage and not the reason the shirt got torn. The two have words. Angry and disappointed, Jon escapes to his bedroom where Courtney phones him and invites him to meet her at the park.

Happy at the prospect of clearing things up with Courtney Jon agrees to meet her. But he walks into a trap. Courtney's call was a ruse to lure him to the secluded park where the gang is waiting for him. To make things worse Gord has painted racist remarks over a Skrulls tag in the park washroom and the gang jumps to the conclusion that it was done by Jon. They close in on him and he is hit and knocked down. Jon manages to escape and runs down the street and between two houses, only to find himself trapped by a fence.

The gang closes in and begin a frenzied attack on Jon. He is kicked in the body and head again and again. Finally a frightened Trevor urges them to stop and Jon somehow manages to stumble home.

Returning from work Jon's parents find him semi-conscious on the couch and call the ambulance.

Forward several hours: Jon has undergone brain surgery and Joe and Lozanne try to make sense of the tragedy that has befallen them.

The medical staff explains Jon's condition to them and as Joe starts to realize the severity of Jon's injuries he runs from the building in a fit of rage and helplessness.

Notices looking for information about Jon's attempted murder are posted around the neighbourhood and eventually Kyle is taken into police custody.

Nora can't accept Kyle's involvement in the horrific attack and is belligerent and defensive. She insists that he wasn't involved, complaining of police brutality and threatening to sue.

At the hospital Joe is incensed when the police inform him that they won't tell him the identities of the boys who attacked Jon.

A nurse tells Lozanne that she must learn how to maintain Jon's tracheotomy tube.

When Lozanne tries to get Joe to come and listen he brushes her off and a scene ensues as she tries to make him understand that the only thing they should be worrying about is Jonathan's condition.

In the courthouse the judge lets the cocky, unremorseful boys out on bail pending a trial and sets a curfew for them.

When a reporter approaches Joe, he rages against the fact that Jon is on life support and his attackers are still free.

The Crown Attorney warns him that the Young Offenders Act prohibits him from talking to the press.

Although Jon is still in a coma, Lozanne and Joe are thrilled when he starts to breathe by himself.

But now they must face the realities of Jon's condition - that his muscles will atrophy, that he must be medicated to maintain his body temperature, that he must learn to speak again.

Lozanne and Joe establish a routine of daily care - participating in his physical therapy, washing and tending his broken body, talking to him even though he doesn't appear to hear.

Their love for Jonathan and complete dedication to helping him recuperate slowly starts to heal their fragile relationship.

As Jon slowly starts to emerge from his coma, Joe lobbies to have the Young Offenders Act rewritten to impose harsher penalties for violent crime.

The gang's defence lawyers start to portray Jon as a racist vigilante who provoked the gang members by writing racist slurs.

Incensed, Joe has trouble keeping his emotions in check when dealing with the media and is warned by his lawyer to cool it. Gord continues to hide the fact that it was he who wrote the slurs, not Jon. Now out of his coma, Jon starts the painful physical therapy necessary to recuperate.

Lozanne, Joe, Toby, and other friends of the family spend hours at the hospital helping him on the long, slow road to recovery.

Finally the day comes when Jon can return home. Now Jon has a whole new set of obstacles to overcome - from climbing the stairs to receiving anonymous hate mail.

The judgement comes down on the trial - Trevor is freed, but Kyle and Ice Man are found guilty. Due to a prior conviction, Ice Man is remanded into closed custody but Kyle is allowed to go free on bail. However, the victory is a hollow one for the Wambacks; the media still infers that Jon wrote the racist graffiti and he is still haunted by memories of the attack.

Gord finally visits Jon for the first time since the attack and the truth emerges that he wrote the slur that was used as the excuse for the beating. Finally, Jon decides to return to school to prove that despite everything, he's no longer a victim. Upon his arrival Kyle and other students are shocked at the reality of the physical damage inflicted upon Jon.