Laggies (2014)

In the throes of a quarter-life crisis, Megan panics when her boyfriend proposes, then, taking an opportunity to escape for a week, hides out in the home of her new friend, 16-year-old Annika, who lives with her world-weary single dad.

Director:

Lynn Shelton

Writer:

Andrea Seigel

Stars:

Keira Knightley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sam Rockwell

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rocki DuCharme	...	Teen Savannah
Sara Lynne Wright	...	Teen Allison (as Sarah Lynne-Wright)
Larissa Schmitz	...	Teen Megan
Phillip Abraham	...	Teen Anthony
Maura Lindsay	...	Teen Danielle
Keira Knightley	...	Megan
Ellie Kemper	...	Allison
Sara Coates	...	Savannah
Kirsten deLohr Helland	...	Danielle
Mark Webber	...	Anthony
Eric Riedmann	...	Matt
Louis Hobson	...	Theo
Jeff Garlin	...	Ed
Jodi Thelen	...	Linda
Basil Harris	...	Wedding DJ

Storyline

Megan's approaching 30 with a good degree and a boyfriend in hand, but when he proposes at her friend's wedding and everyone seems to think that the best way to advance in her career is to take a seminar where you find out what animal you are, Megan's understandably feeling lost. After meeting teenagers who want her to buy them beer, Megan is drawn into 16-year-old Annika's simpler life. She ends up moving in with Annika and her single father, juggling the life of a teen and that of an adult, two romantic interests, and the feeling of lagging behind.

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Plot Keywords:

friendship | one word title | title directed by female | mother daughter relationship | father daughter relationship | 

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Taglines:

A comedy about acting your age and other adult decisions

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some sexual material and teen partying

Did You Know?

Trivia

Anne Hathaway was cast in the lead role but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with the movies Song One (2014) and Interstellar (2014). She was replaced by Keira Knightley.

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Goofs

The position of Megan's scarf during the parent teacher meeting.

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Quotes

Annika: [approaching her in parking lot] You look like you party.
Megan: I... guess I'm technically coming from one.
Annika: Cool. So... we can hardly believe this, but we all forgot our IDs. And I mean, normally we would just go buy some beer ourselves. But I guess we look under 21. Which is crazy, right? I know. Um, so, if we gave you some money or something, would you help us straighten this whole problem out and buy us a six-pack or something?
Megan: Oh, God.
Annika: Um, you could totally keep the change.
Megan: [stunned] Okay. Someone did ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

Italian DVD is about 2 minutes longer. The scene that starts during the opening titles goes on and then cuts to where the US version starts showing a "10 Years Later" sign. Another brief conversation scene is from a different take and has a different, longer dialogue. Running time of Italian DVD, which is PAL, is 1:37:02. In NTSC that translates to 1:41:10. US edition is 1:39.13.

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Connections

Featured in Film 2018: Episode dated 5 November 2014 (2014)

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Soundtracks

Let Go (Breakdown)
Performed by Alice Russell
Written by Alice Russell (PRS) Alex Cowan (PRS)
Published by Third Side Music obo Full Thought Publishing and 5MM Publishing

User Reviews

Quirky commentary on quarter-life crisis - funny indie, almost too real.

Laggies would have been too big a mirror put up to my twenty-something crises-ed life were it not for the comedic value of the whole she-bang.

That's mildly dramatic but really Laggies is a very original take on the quarter-life crises beseeching the Millennial generation.

Megan (Keira Knightley) is an underachieving twenty-something resigned to an underwhelming existence of still dating her high school boyfriend and working for her father. Her friends are all doing the things you're supposed to be doing when you are in your mid-to-late twenties: getting married, having babies, buying a house, etcetera etctera. With a quarter-life crisis imminently on the horizon, Megan retreats to the home of new found friend Annika (Chloe Grace Moretz), a sixteen year old high school student.

The term Laggies comes from Megan's profoundly underwhelming inferior performance in life below her potential. She is in this debilitatingly immobilizing limbo of the mid-twenties when, having done what you thought you were supposed to do and following the path you thought you were supposed to follow, you find yourself 'here' but 'here' isn't where you want to be. Andrea Seigel's screenplay does a good job of satirically making fun of the trends Milennials are doing nowadays as they 'play' house – like first dances and potential baby names.

A good movie will have characters and themes you can identify with, that will help put a mirror to life and help you engage with the narrative. For some 20-somethings most of the film and Keira Knightley's portrayal of an existential crisis may be a bit too close for comfort. Thankfully Chloe Grace Moretz's character has a dad played by Sam Rockwell. Rockwell is the shining light of a comic savior within the film and lifts up the depressing moments of story to a entertainingly watchable movie.

Laggies is a fun one-time watch for 20-somethings to realize they could be more messed up and to find the humor within the perplexities of burgeoning adulthood.

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 October 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Laggies

Filming Locations:

Seattle, Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$74,139, 26 October 2014

Gross USA:

$1,066,981

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,379,154

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anonymous Content, BR Capital Group, Merced Media Partners

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1