The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019) - Review

A road trip to Florida via a backyard Wrestling Debut.

The Film’s Norwegian Poster

One of the most heartfelt films I’ve seen in a longtime Vincent’s Zak (Gottsagen) a man with Down Syndrome, who breaks free from his assisted living centre in attempt of enrolling in a Wrestling School in North Carolina. On the way he attaches himself to Tyler (LaBeouf) a man on the run from rival crab fishers and the two set about moving South to their respective destinations as carer, Eleanor (Johnson) tracks them down.

In many ways a number of ‘cinemas‘ in the Americas have undergone a rejuvenation period in recent times, Brazil have found their niche in science-Fiction and the surreal with recent Bacurau being a stand out and the USA are no different. With a fresh and bold wave of ‘indie’/alternative content that’s extremely irreverent and spearheaded by the likes Eric Andre, this film channels bits of that outlandish, conceptual comedy and merges two distinctly American Genres: The Buddy Cop & Hangout Movie. Narrative is heavily linked to the performances so I’ll try and keep the two points distinct and apart from each other but just know that the performances really make the film come to life and stand out from the pack with it’s incredibly sweet atmosphere. Impressively the narrative is extremely well crafted and it’s recounting is very organic and natural, interweaving the parties of ‘cat’ and ‘mouse’ as it deepens it’s characters along the way. I mentioned the hybridity earlier and it was nice to see how those were a compatible match but also how the conventions and structure can be revised for an audience in the modern day, less of an outright conflict and more of a slight personality clash which is eventually ironed out as the boys soften and warm to each other.

Cast and Performances - Stellar!. Zack Gottsagen is an incredibly charming lead and his whole arc and individual depth was amazing, it tackles his condition but in no matter is exploitative or typical and gives him more strings to his bow above being just a tokenistic character. A strong lead who was matched by equally great support. Dakota Johnson is someone I’ve not seen a lot of, as it stands I’ve not wasted my time with the Fifty Shades Trilogy but her career has been a bit stop-start regardless, with her most notable roles being cameos in the likes of Bad Times at the El Royale & 21 Jump Street, anyhow her talent is clear and her role as the carer, Eleanor was stunningly well performed. Eleanor’s relationships with both male leads come across as genuine, the mother figure to Zak and love interest to Tyler, they’re both well crafted and as I said - feel genuine and believable. LaBeouf was a real highlight I must say, his career turnaround has been really surprising and a process lasting most of the last decade after his departure from the Transformers franchise. Here Shia was incredibly (and I can’t state that enough) emotive and brings an incredible range. A year that saw him do the part polemic Homey Boy he showed an emotional side that was void in the role of James in the aforementioned Har’el directed movie. Swinging from the tough guy to pseudo-father/older brother and it was nice to see him embody such a nuanced individual and he really bore the weight of the film on his shoudler‘s. Frankly his 2019 is one of the most interesting outings I’ve seen for some time and I can’t wait to see more from the writer/actor/director in the future. Elsewhere I really enjoyed the supporting cast and cameos that boost the lead trio, and the background characters cake with a bag of charm and then some. Rapper, Yelawolf was oddly the most compelling of the villains despite being a lesser one and his physical conflict with LaBeouf, driven by his vex after the former Evens Stevens star burns his crew shipping equipment. Thomas Haden Church was unrecognisable and in his brief screen time really contributed a good share to the sweet nature of the film. Rounded out by surprise cameos from Mick Foley and Jake ‘The Snake‘ Roberts, as referee and opponent respectively. The cameos are effectively ‘foils’ they serve the purpose of enriching the relationship of the lead characters and their new formed ‘family unit’. It’s hard to say they’re ‘award worthy‘ but I’ve not seen as much charming range outside of Dafoe and Pattinson in The Lighthouse.

Final piece comes in regard to cinematography. Captured by Nigel Bluck, the film, as cliche as it sounds is one of those where the environment is just as much a character. In one of the USA’s more intriguing, rural areas around and through Georgia and it’s surroundings. From Bayou’s to landscapes, wildlife and montages of our characters, every shot is worthy of being framed on the wall and it forged this palpable atmosphere and sense of geography which adds to the whole ‘road trip’ aspects of the movie. Every element of the film works in conjunction with fulfilling Zak’s dream and the viewer is along for the ride from the get go.

In all, The Peanut Butter Falcon despite its ‘sleeper hit success’ is still a massive hidden gem of a film, and seen as its currently available on the UK’s Netflix, I’d urge you to give it a watch!