This is quite a throwback this movie! Throwout all the CGI, 4k camera work, super super camera angles, stunts and so on, and we have a very back to basics movie that relies on acting, storyline, direction and character. Watching a film like this in the cinema is quite refreshening and reminds me of what we shouldn't lose about cinema.
The film is the usual arc of growing pains as we watch the "Will they, won't they?" drama of two young people in love but we're on tenterhooks waiting for them to finally hook up. You know they will but the journey is good to watch, but what really makes this film is actually the humour. It's not necessarily a slapstick, but there's lot of humour and jokes which lift the story, and there's a myriad of cameo roles by various actors who for the moment steal the show.
The two central characters are played by Cooper Hoffman (who looks disarmingly so much like his more famous father (RIP)) and Alan Haim who are both newbies, and they're both great. Alan Haim as the female lead is just brilliant in her role and for with all due respect to her lead colleague, she's the one who carries the film the best. We watch them develop and evolve into adults, but unsure about life as we all do when we are young. The dialogue captures perfectly life at that age, and you keep going along with the rid
Only negatives is that as much as that the ensemble for this film are great, one or two cameos for me didn't work out well (e.g. Bradley Cooper) but they don't derail the movie. Also the film did drag on for longer than it should, and in the cinema that does not help. It's not a short movie.
Also I never realised that Americans spelt Liquourice so much differently to us outwith of the US!
In a cinema world that has been swamped with overblown tentpole films, this film helps along with certain other releases to try to pushback against the CGI onslaught. Probably a lost cause, but there will hopefully always be those of us who will enjoy something different. Give a go, a good slice of life.
