Wick's Review

Summary - Really Great 4.5

One of the best movies of 2019 suffers from a terrible title of four words that don’t normally go together. People tend to ignore movies this poorly titled. Pity. This movie’s greatness starts with its plot: a Down’s guy goes out on the lam, buddies up with a hard-bitten fisherman, rafts a river, and ends up at a flamboyant kernel of deep-fried Americana. A great cast of moviestars makes it lovable as hell – a most lovable movie!

The Peanut Butter Falcon could be more aptly titled Huck Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Then again, Two Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest might be more like it, or even Three Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Three’s a crowd, but three’s also a family, so can be lovable. Three Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is all that, a Modern Family movie and a buddy movie, plus the rare movie to feature a Down syndrome adult.

It’s far from simple, but is simply one of the best movies of the year and certainly one of the most lovable.

Acting - Great 4.0

Zack Gottsagen leads the movie as a 22 year-old Downs guy, when in fact he is a 34 year-old Downs guy. No surprise then that Zack’s Zak is the most genuine character to come along since Vin Diesel introduced Groot in the original Guardians of the Galaxy. His is a quest story and he leads it unfailingly. The man deserves a Best Actor trophy from someone, or a nomination at least. After seeing him in this movie, I feel like I understand Down syndrome people much better. Every movie performance should be so rewarding.

Shia LaBeouf is at his most moviestar appealing as a rugged fisherman down on his luck, but who has it in him to be a man when only a man will do. The actor named Shia is still hard to take seriously, but we won’t have a choice but to take him seriously if he makes more movies like Fury and The Peanut Butter Falcon.

Dakota Johnson is the third main star, but is less impressive as Zack’s nurturing presence and Shia’s love interest. Dakota is third-gen Hollywood royalty who has assembled a top tier career for herself, albeit off of the risible 50 Shades series, but she’s not a leading lady. She’s this generation’s Liv Tyler – the daughter of a huge star who approximates being a huge star herself.

Great Supporting Cast

• Bruce Dern gets the movie off to a delicious start, as he often does.
• Jon Bernthal makes an entirely credible badass big brother to Shia LaBeouf. BTW, those two worked together and with Brad Pitt in Fury, David Ayer’s essential WWII movie.
• The great John Hawkes makes a credible Southern-fried badass.
• Yelawolf doesn’t have to stretch to play a lowlife named Ratboy.
• Thomas Haden Church gets his best role in years as a locally famous professional wrestler.
• Jake “The Snake” Roberts personifies macho verisimilitude as Samson, another pro-wrestler.

Film - Perfect 5.0

The Peanut Butter Falcon is a Perfect American Film. The rookie feature film writing/directing team of Tyler Nilson & Mike Schwartz deserve Oscars for their perfectly conceived and executed film. It alchemizes One Flew crossed with The African Queen crossed with Huck Finn, but 21st century — au courant. One has to go back to Mud in 2016 for something so richly rooted, evocative and affecting.

One strong element of many is the focus on role models, complete with male bonding, female nurturing, and even pro wrestlers. This being 2019, let’s also note it as very cisgendered, central to why it makes perfect sense, even though it’s R-factor 1.6 Glib. The Modern Family that forms over the course of the film prove functional in no small part by meshing the mother figure’s nurture with the father figure’s mission. Their “son” responds well, as children tend to do when parented properly by a mom and a dad.

Edge - Risqué 1.7

Reality - Glib 1.6

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