☆☆☆☆½
The desire of lonely, troubled people to be a little less of each propels The Peanut Butter Falcon, whose awkward title recalls a 1970s Afterschool Special, though it turns out to be a quiet, soulful rewarding adventure.
Zak (Zack Gottsagen), a young man with Down Syndrome, has been forced to live in a retirement home because no one else will care for him. For his repeated efforts to escape, Zak has been deemed a "flight risk" by social worker Eleanor (Dakota Johnson). When Zak finally does break free, he hides in a shrimp boat owned by troubled, turbulent Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), whose feud with other shrimpers gets out of hand. When Tyler tries to flee, he discovers Zak, and instead of trying to dump him they form a fast friendship as they both head south toward Zak's dream of finding and meeting a pro wrestler he's long idolized.
There's a lot of Mark Twain and a little Wizard of Oz at work here as Zak and Tyler assemble a raft and set sail along a wide and relaxed river, pursued both by Tyler's enemies and by Eleanor, who's searching for Zak. It unfolds with the leisurely charm of a summer afternoon in the Deep South, but there's a strain of melancholy throughout. It's a movie that understands the hard-to-die dream of running away and starting anew. They're floating on calm waters that belie an undercurrent of grief in this lyrical, affecting drama that's immensely better than its clumsy title.
Viewed Sept. 15, 2019 -- ArcLight Sherman Oaks
1730
Zak (Zack Gottsagen), a young man with Down Syndrome, has been forced to live in a retirement home because no one else will care for him. For his repeated efforts to escape, Zak has been deemed a "flight risk" by social worker Eleanor (Dakota Johnson). When Zak finally does break free, he hides in a shrimp boat owned by troubled, turbulent Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), whose feud with other shrimpers gets out of hand. When Tyler tries to flee, he discovers Zak, and instead of trying to dump him they form a fast friendship as they both head south toward Zak's dream of finding and meeting a pro wrestler he's long idolized.
There's a lot of Mark Twain and a little Wizard of Oz at work here as Zak and Tyler assemble a raft and set sail along a wide and relaxed river, pursued both by Tyler's enemies and by Eleanor, who's searching for Zak. It unfolds with the leisurely charm of a summer afternoon in the Deep South, but there's a strain of melancholy throughout. It's a movie that understands the hard-to-die dream of running away and starting anew. They're floating on calm waters that belie an undercurrent of grief in this lyrical, affecting drama that's immensely better than its clumsy title.
Viewed Sept. 15, 2019 -- ArcLight Sherman Oaks
1730
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