L.A., in the film title's decade (though it might as well have been contemporary as far as I could see) this mercifully short (85 mins) film, shot in square-frame ratio, takes a slice of the life of 13 year-old, but looking younger, skateboarding fanatic Sunny Suljic (bottom right in pic) as he rebels against his family (incl. Lucas Hedges as his bullying older brother - a small role though he gets second billing - and Katherine Waterston, the concerned mother). We see him befriending a small gang of street kids united in a craze for their recreation. and being inculcated in the ways that is considered de rigueur for those of their generation - smoking (not just tobacco), drinking and pill-popping, their language peppered with 'f' this and 'f' that, where approval is expressed as being as 'cool' and the go-to words for a put-down are 'fag/faggot' or simply 'gay'. The 'n' word is also liberally employed by all and sundry in a neutral sense.
Although the film does have a strong focus in the young kid's involvement as he moves beyond his family's expectations on how to behave it's also somewhat meandering and episodic - and, for me, not really that interesting. There's a small number of violent scenes, both intentional and accidental, though a film I'll have forgotten by tomorrow.
Jonah Hill, mid-30s, is himself a Los Angeles born and has appeared as actor in some 60 films, this being his first feature film as director, and drawing on his own growing-up experiences. I will commend him, though, for one aspect of this - namely that it wasn't longer..............3.5.
(IMDb..........7.4 / Rott.Toms..............7.1 )
2 hours ago
I'd heard about this film almost a year ago, and it wasn't a good look then!
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised at it getting so many good or v. good reviews here, Bob, which only confirms to me that I'm 'out of the loop' as far as appreciating films like this. If I stop seeing them it'll be at no great loss.
DeleteHmmm... two of my pet hates, violence and homophobia... doesn't sound like my cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteEven without those two I doubt if it'd be to your taste, Chris. I imagine it works best for those tuned in to what counts as juvenile 'entertainment' which absolutely excludes me. And that was proved yesterday by there being applause afterwards from some younger members of the audience. I would have clapped for it having finished!
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