I went into this film with lowered expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Griffin Gluck was wonderful in "American Vandal," but his movie THE TALL GIRL was one of the steamiest piles of hot garbage I've ever seen, so I wasn't sure what to expect from this. Likewise, I've been generally unimpressed by Pete Davidson's appearances on SNL. I was expecting to only watch about five minutes of this movie before shutting it off. The hackneyed opening doesn't help. (Hook with something dramatic happening. Voiceover of main character saying, "It wasn't always like this." Cut to title card "EIGHT YEARS EARLIER." Like Morty says, we should start our stories where they begin, not where they get interesting.)
Anyway, I'm glad I stuck past the worrisome opening because the film is actually quite solid. Jason Orley's direction is assured and engaging. The characters seem like real people. The things they say and do seem refreshingly believable, the chemistry between them is palpable and lived in, and you get the strong sense that their lives extend beyond the page--all signs of exquisite writing and direction. Although it's all fairly low key, there's some good humor, emotion, and suspense blended together in equal parts. I watched this by myself on the couch after a very long, busy day of work, and I found myself thoroughly transported--smiling during flirtation scenes, grimacing during awkward moments, occasionally laughing out loud. This is a story that we've all seen before several times, but Orley makes it new and interesting.
I do feel that the film is ultimately not empathetic enough toward the Zeke character. Yes, he's a mess who frequently makes very bad and hurtful decisions. And yes, the first half of the film does persuasively show his charming side and how someone could be seduced by that. But I think the problem with the film's conclusion lies in the wording I just used. The final act of the movie seems calculated to show that Zeke's actions were all a "seduction," implying some malicious intent, like his terrible advice for how to manipulate girls. But I don't buy that. Zeke's relationship with Mo definitely had a lot of dysfunctional elements, but in their interactions, it's also very apparent that Zeke has a genuine love for and attachment to Mo, for a wide range of messy reasons. If their friendship were to be severed, it seems that the Zeke we've been shown would truly be hurt, even if he chose to express that pain in some dysfunctional way. The movie doesn't give us any access to seeing that pain, even though it does give us access to seeing him alone in other private moments--scenes that seem calculated to show us what a filthy dirtbag he is.
So by spinning Zeke's treatment of Mo as the ultimate manipulative seduction, the movie in its final moments really doubles down on the conclusion that he's a loser and that other people are naturally and obviously better than him. As it's presented, we're supposed to accept these confirmations about his worthlessness (in contrast to other characters' worth). But although the actions of the characters in the film do seem like a very realistic depiction of what might happen to real people in such a situation, somehow the overall package of this movie's conclusion seems a little oversimplified--and, ironically, that's only because of how good the rest of the movie is.
The whole film is built around a core sense of empathy that fleshes the characters out with real feelings and reactions, yet having the moral of the story be "this guy, however, really is just a total loser who deserves to be alone" belies that approach. The final shot of the film seems designed to make us rejoice in the guy's total comeuppance, but I guess I would have been more satisfied if there had been just one painful moment somewhere in those final scenes that affirmed for us that even though he's a mess, Zeke's also a person deserving of dignity, and we should wish the best for him, too, even if it's best for other people to stay away from him for the time being. Such an ending would have been much more powerful for me, and I think the filmmakers are talented enough that they could have pulled it off very well.
Which, now that I think about it, means that I walked into this movie with extremely low expectations, but by the time it was over, it had so won me over that my exponentially elevated expectations ended up being too high! I trust that Orley's next films will be even better, and I look forward to them.
Overall, this is a very good movie. Gluck carries the role well, and Davidson, despite his lackluster performance on SNL, is surprisingly very captivating.
Griffin Gluck was wonderful in "American Vandal," but his movie THE TALL GIRL was one of the steamiest piles of hot garbage I've ever seen, so I wasn't sure what to expect from this. Likewise, I've been generally unimpressed by Pete Davidson's appearances on SNL. I was expecting to only watch about five minutes of this movie before shutting it off. The hackneyed opening doesn't help. (Hook with something dramatic happening. Voiceover of main character saying, "It wasn't always like this." Cut to title card "EIGHT YEARS EARLIER." Like Morty says, we should start our stories where they begin, not where they get interesting.)
Anyway, I'm glad I stuck past the worrisome opening because the film is actually quite solid. Jason Orley's direction is assured and engaging. The characters seem like real people. The things they say and do seem refreshingly believable, the chemistry between them is palpable and lived in, and you get the strong sense that their lives extend beyond the page--all signs of exquisite writing and direction. Although it's all fairly low key, there's some good humor, emotion, and suspense blended together in equal parts. I watched this by myself on the couch after a very long, busy day of work, and I found myself thoroughly transported--smiling during flirtation scenes, grimacing during awkward moments, occasionally laughing out loud. This is a story that we've all seen before several times, but Orley makes it new and interesting.
I do feel that the film is ultimately not empathetic enough toward the Zeke character. Yes, he's a mess who frequently makes very bad and hurtful decisions. And yes, the first half of the film does persuasively show his charming side and how someone could be seduced by that. But I think the problem with the film's conclusion lies in the wording I just used. The final act of the movie seems calculated to show that Zeke's actions were all a "seduction," implying some malicious intent, like his terrible advice for how to manipulate girls. But I don't buy that. Zeke's relationship with Mo definitely had a lot of dysfunctional elements, but in their interactions, it's also very apparent that Zeke has a genuine love for and attachment to Mo, for a wide range of messy reasons. If their friendship were to be severed, it seems that the Zeke we've been shown would truly be hurt, even if he chose to express that pain in some dysfunctional way. The movie doesn't give us any access to seeing that pain, even though it does give us access to seeing him alone in other private moments--scenes that seem calculated to show us what a filthy dirtbag he is.
So by spinning Zeke's treatment of Mo as the ultimate manipulative seduction, the movie in its final moments really doubles down on the conclusion that he's a loser and that other people are naturally and obviously better than him. As it's presented, we're supposed to accept these confirmations about his worthlessness (in contrast to other characters' worth). But although the actions of the characters in the film do seem like a very realistic depiction of what might happen to real people in such a situation, somehow the overall package of this movie's conclusion seems a little oversimplified--and, ironically, that's only because of how good the rest of the movie is.
The whole film is built around a core sense of empathy that fleshes the characters out with real feelings and reactions, yet having the moral of the story be "this guy, however, really is just a total loser who deserves to be alone" belies that approach. The final shot of the film seems designed to make us rejoice in the guy's total comeuppance, but I guess I would have been more satisfied if there had been just one painful moment somewhere in those final scenes that affirmed for us that even though he's a mess, Zeke's also a person deserving of dignity, and we should wish the best for him, too, even if it's best for other people to stay away from him for the time being. Such an ending would have been much more powerful for me, and I think the filmmakers are talented enough that they could have pulled it off very well.
Which, now that I think about it, means that I walked into this movie with extremely low expectations, but by the time it was over, it had so won me over that my exponentially elevated expectations ended up being too high! I trust that Orley's next films will be even better, and I look forward to them.
Overall, this is a very good movie. Gluck carries the role well, and Davidson, despite his lackluster performance on SNL, is surprisingly very captivating.