A different sort of teen film - it takes teenagers more as they are (i.e. interested in sex, smoking, romance, worried about family and jobs and the future), presenting them in a non-judgemental way. It's beautifully shot and has a really unique feel, with long takes, quasi-rural setting, and scenes which (mostly) don't take the easy way out.
Miles Teller is an engaging lead and Shailene Woodley is sweet as the ugly duckling who falls for him. Actually all the actors are good: Brie Larson as Teller's ex, Kyle Chandler as his dad, the weedy guy who plays his best mate. The one exception was Jennifer Jason Leigh as his mother who has had so much botox or whatever done to her face she was barely recognisable - it's extremely distracting (even if the director doesn't give her a close up).
The other thing that got on my nerves was all the drinking. I don't mind films that show teenagers drink but Teller's character is a functioning alcoholic - he's constantly sipping on booze throughout the film (even at school and work), and does lots of drink driving. I know that's the point of the character but it was hard to watch again and again and again and I wish they'd conveyed it in a different way as it was uncomfortable (in a bad way) to watch.
It ambles a bit, lacks the focus of 500 Days of Summer (by the same screenwriters) and could have done with some more laughs but I liked it.
No comments:
Post a Comment