Written by: Destiny Daniel Cretton &Andrew Lanham & Marti Noxon (screenplay by), Jeannette Walls (based upon the book by)
Directed by: Destiny Daniel Cretton
Starring: Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts, Sarah Snook, Sadie Sink, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Iain Armitage, Max Greenfield
Rated: PG-13
Plot
A young girl comes from a dysfunctional family of nonconformist nomads with a mother who's an eccentric artist and an alcoholic father who would stir the children's imagination to distract them from their poverty.
Verdict
This intertwines the story of Jeannette who rose to success from extreme poverty with the story of her drunk, controlling father. This is from her viewpoint so a lot of what we see are the worst of times, but this does show us enough good times that I don't think he considered his kids a burden though it does seem like that. It's an intense character study about how parents shape you. I was appalled at her parents, particularly her father, but as it unfolds you understand him. You don't forgive him, but you get it. It's admirable that the movie can make you care for a character you don't even like.
Watch it.
Review
This was adopted from the memoir of Jeannette Walls, chronicling her childhood of squatting in various houses.
This starts with Jeannette, already a journalist, and her boyfriend at a client meeting. There's a heavy handed approach to let us know despite how she lives now being poor is ingrained and it embarrasses her boyfriend. It rang completely hollow, because you know she would have developed the self awareness to hide asking for someone else's leftovers. Had she never been out to dinner with someone? In the very next scene we see she doesn't relish living in squalor.
Despite the awkward opening, this is an intense character study. It frequently cuts between past and present, contrasting her well-off life with her boyfriend and her transient youth. It's ridiculous to see her boyfriend buying an expensive Italian cow pattern chair right after we see her family unable to afford food. That's the point, and this would be the time to insert how she hasn't escaped the mindset of scraping by. I thought for sure she'd tell him how silly the chair is, but she doesn't.
During the first scene with her mom when Jeannette is very young, I wondered why the mom even had kids. She cares more about painting than her children, outright neglecting them. Jeannette ends up in the hospital and we meet her dad Rex, played by Woody Harrelson. Rex is the mad at the world type, thinking everyone is out to get him or just out for themselves. There's a little bit of projection there. He seems like someone that doesn't like his kids, like they're a burden. While you could argue he's just employing the school of hard knocks, his behavior breeds resentment. To teach Jeannette to swim, he repeatedly throws her in the water as she sinks to the bottom. It gets so bad that people at the pool question him and he starts a fight. That's his pattern.
I wondered why Jeanette would have anything to do with her parents in the present day. How did she get out, why go back, and did her siblings get out?
In the present day Rex hasn't changed. He insults the choices his children have made in life. That could be a defense mechanism, it's not like he can refute they've done better than him. By claiming they've sold out, he gets to claim superiority. A lot of his issues come down to that. Rex can't admit someone doing better than him. If they have he has to find a way to surpass them.
Both parents frequently put their desires ahead of their kids. While you think they must have loved their kids, we see numerous shortcomings. This is from Jeannette's point of view, but there's no way she isn't resentful. With a life like that the deficiencies are going to come to mind much quicker than the good times. They lived in squalor for much of her life. Her father's ego rode in the front seat the entire way. He does have a few redeeming moments that let us know he did care for his kids, but he was just a broken human being that shouldn't have had offspring.
Were they good parents? No. Did they love their kids? Yes, but that love is heavily qualified.
We see where Rex gets his parenting skills. His mom is a bit much. We see how Rex's mother impacted not only her son's life but her grandchildren indirectly. She was Rex's model of parenting. We realize Rex had it worse growing up than we ever could have imagined. I can't forgive him for putting his children in the same situation. Maybe it's pride, he doesn't want to admit what happened, but it's hard to watch him ignore his children's pleas for help. Even if he doesn't want to admit what happened when he was a child, these are his children. Saying his son is "a man, he can take care of himself." has to be an outlet of his own feelings of deficiency, but it still makes him a terrible parent for not siding with his kids.
It would have been easy for Jeannette to fall into the cycle. Rex's brother did, never leaving home, and Rex is irreparably scarred. Jeannette resolved to not only leave, but to push her siblings to leave.
The movie builds upon an unlikable character and it knows it. Everything is centered around Rex and his ego. We can root for Jeannette, but her story is intertwined, her success in spite of Rex.
The final few scenes are so formulaic in a movie that deserved better. We get the death bed confessional. I assume this follows the book so maybe I have to cut this some slack, but I would have preferred the movie end earlier We get a scene that makes us wonder what it is about her parents, why they lived in squalor when they didn't necessarily have to. There's no good answer to that question, but Brian reminds Jeannette that Rex did do some good. He came up with the money for her to stay in college. It might be the lone truly thing good he does in the movie. It would have been a nice way to end this.
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