by Cain Noble-Davies
Worth: $15.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann, Woody Norman, Scoot McNairy
Intro:
… the best kind of slow burn …
Communication barriers between children and adults form the core of C’mon C’mon, the latest from writer/director Mike Mills (20th Century Women, Beginners).
While his parents try and deal with their own mental health crises, young Jesse (Woody Norman) is left in the care of his uncle Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix), a journalist on a road trip across America interviewing kids about what they think the future will be like. A rather confronting question, especially in the year of 2020-With-A-Vengeance, brought right into the foreground through the relationship between Johnny and Jesse.
Children exist in an odd holding pattern when it comes to discussing cinema critically. Conventional wisdom usually holds that a lot of child characters are written expressly as what adult screenwriters wish children were like, rather than anything close to genuine, and child actors, by nature, aren’t experienced. In C’mon C’mon, the real-life characters interviewed by Joaquin’s Johnny show preternatural perception of their surroundings and circumstances, as the products of difficult times that basically pressured them into growing up faster than intended. This is complemented by Woody Norman’s Jesse, who hits that sweet spot of youthful purity in his worldview and legitimate if unintentional annoyance. Phoenix’s chemistry with the kid is arguably better than his chemistry with a lot of adult actors over his career, and as a physical meeting point between the present and the future, their budding friendship allows for a lot of quiet contemplation. Along with poignancy once you learn what the title of the film means.
C’mon C’mon is the best kind of slow burn, where the stark black and white visuals and words of childish wisdom gradually combine to create an experience that questions a lot of what we ‘know’ about young people, mental health, and ourselves.
