Cast: On the younger side you have Thomas Mann (Me), RJ Cyler (Earl), Olivia Cooke (The Dying Girl), and Katherine Hughes. The adults include TV all-stars such as Nick Offerman (Parks & Rec.), Molly Shannon (SNL), Connie Britton (FNL), and Jon Bernthal (Tha Walking Dead).
Plot: Greg (Mann) is a teenage kid who values the fact that he's avoided belonging to any clique or group throughout high school. One day, his mom (Britton) makes him hang out with a girl in his class, Rachel (Cooke), who was just diagnosed with cancer. Despite the forced beginning, they become fast friends. Greg's only other friend is Earl (Cyler), who he calls his "coworker" because the two of them make really bad movies. All of these are parodies of classic movies, but with the titles changed to something stupid. We see plenty of these throughout the film. At one point, a hot girl in Greg's class, Madison, finds out about these movies and gets Greg to make one for Rachel. You can fill in the other blanks in the plot by calling it a coming of age story.
Thoughts: This movie blew me away. I can't say that will be the case for everyone, but it checked off basically every box I had. The cast, the type of movie, the way it's shot, and the story all meshed completely.
I didn't have much reason to care for the young cast. Mann has a poor track record with me. I've seen him in Project X and Hansel & Gretel, which both ranked among my least favorite movies the years they came out (2012, 2013). I haven't seen Bates Motel so Cooke was new to me. Cyler and Hughes are newcomers I haven't seen at all either. That said, I'll be following them closely now. Mann and Cooke in particular are amazing playing both sides of this strained friendship.
I'm a sucker for a good coming of age story and this is a very good one. The particular shading of Greg is dead on. He's not a social reject. He's just hiding. He's frustrating at times because he's a screw-up. He's likable at times because he's a sweet kid. He's funny at times because he's clever. He's everything you want for this movie.
I'm not one to notice how a film is shot very often. This is an exception. It's filmed it a pretty overt way. Some scene are shot as a continuous take so that you don't get a release from the tension of what's happening. Shots are constantly angled to show distance between characters too. I look forward to seeing what else I catch in future viewings.
I don't want to get into the story too much. There's not really anything to "spoil" per se, but it's better the more you let the story take you where it wants. What blew me away is that the message of the movie. Among other things, it's about the fullness of any person's life and no matter how well we know someone, there's always something new to be learned. It isn't quite what I expected, and when the movie makes it clear, that hit me harder than just about anything in recent memory. I'll be curious to see what other people take away from it.
Elephant in the Room: It looks quirky? Is it quirky? Is someone going to be talking on a hamburger phone? It's a quirky movie. There's no two ways about that. This is a strange world. Greg has an odd point of view. He shoots homemade parodies of The 400 Blows and A Clockwork Orange. Offerman as his father is a cartoon. The quirks work though. The joke-movies become an emotional through line for Greg and Rachel. Offerman's lunacy completely informs how Greg is the way he is. Personally, I look at all the quirks as details and this movie is incredible at building characters through these details.
To Sum Things Up (in 57 Words or Less):This is a great movie and surely one of my favorites for the year. Thomas Mann and Olivia Cooke are fantastic (on par with Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley in The Spectacular Now). This does a coming of age and a high school story right.
Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend
No comments:
Post a Comment