Stuff you would never think of happens.

Continuing my trip up The Guardian's Top 50 Films of 2021 

#43 : C'mon C'mon

Written and directed by Thumbsucker’s Mike Mills, this coming-of-age heartwarmer, shot in classy monochrome and starring Joaquin Phoenix, oozes prestige as it tackles weighty themes.

I've heard of this, but have no idea what it's about - and having read the description above, I've still no idea.  I'm also approaching it with some trepidation because whilst I think Mr Phoenix is a fine actor, I've tended not to like stuff he's been in (so much so that I did a trawl through his IMDB to see whether there was anything in the plus column - and was pleased to come up with Her, Hotel Rwanda (which I don't remember him in) and Gladiator (which I have to admit he's very good in)).  But here goes anyway...

So, Johnny (Joaquin) has a job which involves interviewing kids (not sure why) but has to take some time to babysit his nephew Jessie (played by Woody Norman), whilst his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffman - who was a child actor in Sleepless in Seattle, Field Of Dreams and Uncle Buck) looks after her husband (and Jessie's dad) who's having a bit of a breakdown.  And lots of deep and meaningful conversations happen between the three main characters, so everyone gets to grow and learn on the journey.  Awwww.

Actually, surprisingly little happens - both for long periods of time and across the whole film as a whole.  It's a real slow-burner and I would have normally given up on it, but it drew me in by the end - possibly only because I wanted to see how it ended.  And it was a nice enough ending, even though nothing really happened.  110 mins running time was far too long for the little that did happen though.

Despite all the nothingness that doesn't happen, it's quite a poetic film which deploys some beautiful lyrical imagery - although I'd have to say I'm not sure it quite possesses the depth it thinks it does.  Some of it is just a bit too "right on" - particularly the reading out of various essays.  Although I did impress myself by recognising that one of them was by Kirsten Johnson - who made this.

It does look very good though what with it being shot in classy monochrome - really very classy indeed!  Although I've absolutely no idea why.  But the cityscape shots look particularly fantastic in it with a nice contrast throughout the film between California, New York and New Orleans (I've never made it to New Orleans and it looks really nice - and they found the most AMAZING trees there!).  The classy monochrome also makes it very hard to place the film at a particular time - but that doesn't really seem to matter.

I guess the film does have some interesting things to say on parental responsibility, but nothing that isn't reasonably intuitive for those of us lucky enough to have gone through it all - "Nobody knows what they're doing with their kids.  You just have to keep doing it".  Amusingly, some of the slightly strange behaviour from Jessie (charmingly described as "totally fucked up") is very similar to something our youngest has done (so it seems reasonably normal to me!).

This is another one of those "written and directed by" films that The Guardian likes so much - I checked out the other films that Mike Mills has directed and I can tell you nothing about any of them, other than that Thumbsucker is supposed to be OK.  I also see he's married to Miranda July - that will be one ridiculously arty household (and quite annoying so, I suspect).

I did however like Joaquin in this - he gives a natural and believable performance which I think has been something lacking from him in the films of his that I haven't enjoyed (and I'm not saying he's to blame - he will merely have been doing what he's told).  However, I think the main plaudits here have to go to Woody Norman as Jessie - he does an excellent job in playing off Joaquin in a completely believable and frustrating role (and IMDB tells me he's British, which I would never have guessed from watching this).  Gaby Hoffman also deserves credit for her role, although she spends a lot of the film talking into the telephone!

So - all in all, this is an odd one.  It has a lot to commend it and it looks absolutely fantastic - but it's somewhat lacking in content (particularly for its length) so I would say it's a bit of a struggle that I probably wouldn't have managed to get through unless I'd been writing about it.  On the whole, I'd say I'm glad I've seen it - but I also don't think I'd recommend it unless you like Mr Phoenix or unnecessarily arty films.  So if that sounds like your bag, then go for it!

At the time of writing, it's not available to watch anywhere - but I suspect that will be changing pretty soon, so watch out for it if unnecessarily arty films starring Joaquin Phoenix are your thing.

#44 - A pleasingly and disappointingly brief film
#42 - Not great