The Peanut Butter Falcon

****

Yeah, you’re gonna die, it’s a matter of time. That ain’t the question. The question’s, whether they’re gonna have a good story to tell about you when you’re gone.

Zack Gottsagen and Shia LeBeouf

The story behind this film is an interesting as this film itself (thanks Uncle Chip). It took two things that I really enjoy, pro wrestling and Huckleberry Finn, and put them together. Since I know a lot about both, I could talk about the inaccuracies, or focus on the positives. Considering that this is the only film I’ve seen starring a person with Down syndrome, I want to focus on the positives. The film is about empowering people, and how believing in them can do that.

Zack Gottsagen is not famous like his co-stars, Shia LaBeouf and Dakota Johnson, but his performance matches theirs. The co-writers/directors, Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, wrote this with Gottsagen in mind which helps explain how he got to star in this movie. Gottsagen’s character, Zak, escapes from an assisted living facility with the dream of attending a pro wrestling school. It’s equal parts feel good and tense. It does a good job, without being patronizing, of showing that people need support, but that needing support or help does not make someone less valuable.

Thomas Hayden Church plays the “Salt Water Redneck,” a retired pro-wrestler. His persona and demeanor were similar to the Ultimate Warrior, but his name is more reminiscent of Steve Austin, the Bionic Redneck. The surprise appearances come from Mick Foley and Jake “the Snake” Roberts. Roberts, of whom I’m not really a fan, puts in an excellent performance. As a wrestling fan, certain things will often ring false in its representation in pop culture. We all know that the matches have predetermined outcomes, so why do people actively try to hurt their opponent in a way that’s incongruous with how a match functions? Having a nobody show up to wrestle will be met with silence from fans, so Roberts’ character being able to get them to root for a nobody was very impressive. His body is so broken down at this point in his life, that to have him do anything in the ring was a bold choice, but he pulled it off. My biggest complaint from the climax was that it was not enough of a “Hollywood Ending” as I would have liked.

Black Widow

***½

Great plan. I love the part where I almost bled to death.

There have been a lot of Marvel movies that have come out over the past 15 years. While they have refined the formula so that I tend to enjoy Iron Man 3, Thor 3, Captain America 3 more than their first two, they were also wearing out their welcome. Finally something comes along that is distinctly aware that it is a Marvel movie, without succumbing to that fact.

The Good:

Amazing action scenes. I kept thinking about 6 Underground and how much better this was than Michael Bay was at doing Michael Bay things. This was better than the Fast and Furious movies. Better than Missions: Impossible. It takes a lot for me to ignore my phone and laptop for more than 5 minutes, even during a movie, but this did that time and time again. By the time the action got less than realistic they had me along for the ride and I appreciate that.

Wonderful actors and performances. Scarlett Johansson is a good actress. I knew that by 2004, but it’s nice to see her nonetheless. David Harbour just seems like a guy I’ve seen in movies before and he crushed it as Alexei (Red Guardian). Florence Pugh has a huge career ahead of her, or she’s already a big star and I didn’t notice. She held her ground with Johansson in a way that really elevated scenes. Rachel Weisz is such a good actress that even in a so-so role she’s still Rachel Weisz. Ray Winstone is also a fine actor (see The Departed and Sexy Beast).

The villain. Ray Winstone’s Dreykov seemed self-satisfied and self-justified. But he was not Daniel Brühl as Zemo in Captain America 3. That was the hero of his own story and a wonderful performance. It was just such a relief to have a villain whom nobody will be dressing up as at ComicCon.

The Bad:

The villain’s accent. At the start of the film Dreykov looks the part and acts the part of the 1980s Soviet spy boss. The next time we see him his accent is less “maybe he’s supposed to be Ukrainian” and more “so is he supposed to be an English guy who infiltrated the Soviet KGB?” He goes for a couple of times later, but this has low budget Boston film where the actor gave up half-way through vibes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLwbzGyC6t4 jumps to mind (at 1:12) and Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Not everyone does a great Russian accent, including Weisz, who is such a good actress, I’m willing to believe she was doing a regional one that I’m unfamiliar with…but that’s giving her the benefit of the doubt. I’m equally willing to believe she read the script and was like, “mind control of hundreds of Charlies Angels or whatever? But they’re paying me how much? Sure, I’ll show up for 5 days.”

The dialogue. Part of what really sold me on the performances was just how bad the dialogue was, and how infrequently I noticed it. Here are some examples.

Natasha Romanoff: Here’s what’s going to happen.

Melina Vostokoff: Natasha, don’t slouch!

Natasha Romanoff: I’m not slouching!

Melina Vostokoff: You’re going to get a back hunch.

Alexei Shostakov: Listen to your mother.

Natasha Romanoff: Oh my God, this…

Alexei Shostakov: Up, up!

Natasha Romanoff: All right, enough! All of you!

Yelena Belova: I didn’t say anything, that’s not fair!

and

Yelena Belova: Why do you always do that thing?

Natasha Romanoff: What thing?

Yelena Belova: That thing you do when you’re fighting. The… like… the thing you do…When you whip your hair when you’re fighting and you do like a fighting pose. It’s a fighting pose. You’re a total poser.

Natasha Romanoff: I’m not a poser.

Yelena Belova: Ha ha! I mean they are great poses but it does look like you think everyone’s looking at you, like all the time.

Natasha Romanoff: All that time that I spent posing, I was actually trying to do something good. To make up for all the pain and suffering that we caused. Trying to be more than just a trained killer.

Yelena Belova: Well, then you were fooling yourself. Because pain and suffering is every day and we are both still a trained killer. Except I’m not the one who’s on the cover of a magazine. I’m not the killer little girls call their hero.

Ouch, that’s some painful dialogue, and they were able to make it not painful.

The Decision:

Director Cate Shortland did a good job, particularly considering the story and dialogue. It really was enjoyable for an after-thought movie. As someone who feels very tired with Marvel, I found the movie surprisingly good.