The 1990s was an upbringing of solely fun and joy in a child's life. I was a younger child so my time of having fun was staring in the late 90s but it seemed that you can do anything with a new activity with a new clique of friends that enjoy your company. Plus, with the increase of hip-hop and rap music, it became a more hip time since the 60s in which you do not have to be shy to express your true colors. It seemed that people were breaking the mold of expressing their personality. Even going in, I was interested to see how actor Jonah Hill would do as a director. (The first time I noticed him was in Superbad and his cameo in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.) His directorial debut serves a plate of nostalgia that is delightful and worthwhile.
Stevie (Sunny Suljic) is a teenager who lives in Los Angeles with his single mother, Dabney (Katherine Waterston) and his fitness-crazed brother, Ian (Lucas Hedges). He sees a group of skateboarders and wants to join them outside of a skate shop. The following day, he meets the skaters but they joke with him and tolerate his presence. After making an exchange with Ian, Stevie brings his skateboard and befriends Ruben (Gio Galicia), who introduces him to Ray (Nakel Smith), "Fourth Grade" (Ryder McLaughlin) and a name that I cannot say here played by Olan Prennett.
Even though he is an inexperienced skater, Stevie starts to become with them as he becomes more arrogant and a bit rebellious. Dabney becomes concerned because he had suffered a head injury and in addition, Ian becomes more concerned because he sees that he is growing up too fast. But, they are concerned because of his actions, Stevie could go on a path of an early and unpredictable death with his camaraderie with the skaters as he experiences sex, alcohol and drugs.
This is a well-told coming-of-age story that got me involved with the characters and their backstories, after finding out why they are what they are. They are all trapped within terrible livelihoods that got them to escape into a life that is within their troubles such as an encounter with someone else's death or someone's financial situation. One person cannot afford socks. I was more impressed with Hill's execution of the story than the conclusion of the story where it felt like he needed to finish the movie with a cliche third act that felt a bit anticlimactic but sweet. It earned that tiny sentiment because we bought them as a group of friends and not as one-dimensional caricatures.
The acting is quite good from Suljic as casting directors should notice him for other projects and use him well. Katherine Waterston and Luca Hedges, who is also on a roll with Manchester By The Sea, Lady Bird and Boy Erased, which he was a revelation, evokes the family members with conviction as I bought them being concerned for the youngest family member.
The movie does go in a predictable direction in which the group argues and disbands and goes into that anticlimactic third act where it involves an accident that felt contrived. It seemed that component was taken away from better coming-of-age films or more like Whiplash and also a TV show, Stranger Things. But, I favored the first two acts so much that it explored adolescence from less of an eyewitness point-of-view than being in the park with the group of friends, empathizing with the characters. This is a good start for Jonah Hill's career as a director and he yearns for more personal storytelling and I cannot wait for his next feature.
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