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THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON
Directors: Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Zack Gottsagen, Dakota Johnson, John Hawkes, Thomas Haden Church, Bruce Dern, Yelawolf, Jake Roberts, Mick Foley, Jon Bernthal MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:33 Release Date: 8/9/19 (limited); 8/23/19 (wide) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | August 22, 2019 Writer/directors Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz pull off a rather tricky feat with The Peanut Butter Falcon. Here's a film that feels both like a fable and quite authentic. The story makes it the stuff of fables, as a pair of mismatched characters take a trip through the fields, across the swamps, and down a river on the southern East Coast of the United States. The authenticity comes from the fact that we come to understand these characters—their dreams, their fears, their struggles to get by each day—and believe they actually could exist in real life. Take Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), a crab fisherman who has had to go rogue recently, following the death of his older brother (played by Jon Bernthal in flashbacks). In this small town, probably in North Carolina but definitely not any farther north than that, there are only a limited number of crab-fishing licenses, and after the brother died, in a car accident that saw Tyler falling asleep at the wheel, his license went to someone else. Now, Tyler can't make any kind of official living, so he steals traps from other, licensed fishermen. They don't take too kindly to the pilfering. We buy all of this—and quite easily. Nilson and Schwartz also get right to the core of this character—impoverished, desperate, grieving, guilty—without wasting any time. The same can be said of Zak (Zack Gottsagen), a young man with Down syndrome (The actor also has the condition). With no family to care for him, Zak, through some weird quirk in the social services system, lives in an assisted care facility for the elderly. He has one dream: to become a professional wrestler. He has been plotting his escape from the residence, hoping to head south to Florida, where his wrestling hero has established a school for aspiring grapplers. There are so many ways this story, these characters (Zak's in particular), and this relationship between the two men could have gone wrong. The film could have pandered to these characters, seeing them only as victims of circumstance and their lot in the life, and to the audience, giving us just a vaguely inspirational tale of people overcoming the obstacles that life has thrown at them. It could have treated Zak with kid gloves or, worse, seen him primarily as the sum of a genetic condition. The story could have leaned too far into the elements of a fable, in which the adventures and the journey overtake the actual observation and growth of these characters, or it could have grounded itself entirely as a character piece, disallowing fanciful flights of any degree along the way. Somehow, though, the filmmakers find the right balance of fancy and reality. While the film definitely wants us to feel good about how these characters overcome their troubles and shatter the perceptions of others, it earns that reaction by portraying these characters as more than any obstacle and by allowing them room to grow along the way to Florida. As for Zak, other characters here may only see him as someone with Down syndrome—to be underestimated, insulted, and otherwise treated differently in a variety of ways. Nilson and Schwartz, though, do not. He is as much a character as his co-lead, and he is even richer a character than almost anyone else in the story. The plot proper begins when Zak does make a nighttime escape (with the help of his roommate, played by Bruce Dern—just one of multiple appearances from notable actors in supporting or ancillary roles). Only in his underwear (He has to slip through narrow bars covered in soap to get out the window), Zak hides out in Tyler's boat. Tyler has upset a pair of crab-fishermen named Duncan (John Hawkes) and Ratboy (Yelawolf) by stealing their catch, and he sends them into a violent rage when he burns their traps. While making a getaway, Tyler discovers Zak stowing away on the boat, and after learning more about his fellow fugitive, the out-of-luck fisherman, also on his way to Florida to start a new life, decides to help Zak get to the wrestling school. The core of the film belongs to the budding friendship between Zak and Tyler, as they travel south by foot and, later, by a homemade raft, made of parts donated by a blind man who offers to baptize the travelers (Crossing two items off the list of things a traditional American folk tale might possess). In the process, Zak finds a friend who, after Tyler gets over the irritation of having anyone following him, treats him with respect and as an equal, and Tyler gradually learns that there's more to life than his own problems and that he isn't the irresponsible man whose biggest mistake has been haunting him. It's so simple, and that, along with the care of the writing and the specificity of the performances, is why the film is as touching as it is. There are some stumbles along the way. The two fishermen chasing Tyler start to seem like a plot contrivance (They can and do find him anywhere), and Eleanor (Dakota Johnson), a volunteer at the residence who's looking for Zak and eventually finds the pair, quickly becomes a third wheel—only existing to show that treating Zak like a child isn't helping him and to become a romantic interest for Tyler. In the big picture, though, such extraneous material doesn't detract from the central bond between Zak and Tyler. It's sincere and heartfelt, and in depicting these characters and this relationship with such tenderness and compassion, so, too, is The Peanut Butter Falcon. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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(for thematic content, language throughout, some violence and smoking)
