The film revolves around a group of teenagers living in Palo Alto, California as they all deal with growing pains, lust, boredom, and other issues as they all embark on some journey that play to their growth. It’s a film that follow four different teens as they all share a narrative of sorts where Gia Coppola creates as it play into these teens who are just lost in the world around them as April (Emma Roberts) is a high school student that is also part of the school’s soccer team as she has a crush on their coach Mr. B. (James Franco) whom she also babysits her son. April has feelings for one of her classmates in the aspiring artist/stoner Teddy (Jack Kilmer) who often hangs out with the more destructive stoner Fred (Nat Wolff) as they get into some trouble with Teddy being forced to serve community service after crashing into another car in order to avoid juvenile detention. Fred meanwhile goes after a teammate of April in Emily (Zoe Levin) whom he would have sex with yet has also things that he would want to do as he would also cause trouble. Though Coppola’s script is loose in its narrative and can be messy at times, she is able to find ways to play into the evolution of these characters as they deal with their growing pains.
Coppola’s direction is definitely stylish in terms of its presentation while utilizing real locations in and around Southern California including the town of Palo Alto as it is a character in the film. Coppola would use wide shots for some of the locations including scenes where the characters are in a location to play into their own sense of isolation and boredom while she also uses medium shots for some of the party scenes in the film. There are also intimate moments in Coppola’s direction in some of the medium shots as well as close-ups as it add to the drama. Notably as it play into April’s own interaction with Mr. B. whom she would have an affair with despite the fact that he’s an adult and she’s a high school student.
There are also moments that do play into the many fallacies of Teddy and Fred’s friendship as the latter tends to be involved in destructive manners as well as voiceover in what he would to Emily with other boys. Coppola also play into Emily’s own search for love but also her own sexual exploration although her character isn’t as developed as she has no idea about what she’s doing other than become a prop for Fred. The climax does play into a party but also characters growing up over some of the things they encounter as well as thinking about the next stage in their lives. Yet, it also forces a few to ponder if there is even a future for them as it all play into the ideas of growing up. Overall, Coppola crafts a dreamy yet haunting film about teenagers dealing with growing pains in Palo Alto, California.
Cinematographer Autumn Cheyenne Durald does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of low-key and natural lighting for many of the daytime exteriors as well as the usage of lighting to low-level lighting for many of the interior/exterior scenes at night. Editor Leo Scott does excellent work with the editing as it has style in its usage of jump-cuts and dissolves to play into some of the dizzying adventures the characters go through but also some straightforward cuts for the drama. Production designer Sara Beckum Jamieson, with set decorator Natalie Ziering and art director Dori Hana Scherer, does fantastic work with the look of the homes of where Fred and Emily lived while the rooms of Teddy and April are actual locations. Costume designer Courtney Hoffman does nice work with the costumes from the stylish look of Emily to the stoner clothing that Fred and Teddy wear.
Hair/makeup artist Molly Paddon does terrific work with some of the makeup April and Emily would wear along with their friends. Visual effects supervisor Viktor Muller does fine work with some of the film’s minimal visual effects as it relates to some of the car crashes in the film. Sound designer Richard Beggs does incredible work with the sound in the way music sounds at a party as well as some of the sparse sounds in natural locations. The film’s music by Devonte Hynes and Robert Schwartzman is wonderful for its mixture of indie, pop, hip-hop, and other kinds of music that include contributions from Jason Schwartzman’s side project Coconut Records, Mac DeMarco, Jack Kilmer, Nat & Alex Wolff, Blood Orange, Francesco Pennino, William Storkson, and Tonstartssbandht.
The casting by Laray Mayfield is superb as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Talia Shire as April’s guidance counselor, Janet Jones Gretzky as Teddy’s mother, Emma Gretzky as Teddy’s sister, Colleen Camp as a woman who was part of a car accident Teddy got involved in, Francis Ford Coppola as the voice of a judge, Ana Thea Bogdanovich as a friend of the woman whom Teddy crashed into, Brennan and Atlanta de Cadenet Taylor as a couple of kids at a party, Andrew Lutheran as a boy April makes out with at a party, Jacqueline De La Fontaine as April’s mother, Don Novello as an art teacher, Sandra Seacat as an elderly woman who takes a liking towards Teddy’s art work during his community service, Margaret Qualley as a teammate of April in Raquel whom April notices Mr. B. puts his attention towards to, Chris Messina as Fred’s father who is a stoner and tries to flirt with Teddy, Keegan Allen as a weed dealer who insults Fred, and Val Kilmer as April’s stepfather Stewart who likes to smoke weed but also help her out with her term paper. Olivia Crocicchia and Claudia Levy are terrific in their respective roles as April’s classmates Chrissy and Shauna who often host parties while also making rumors about everyone.
Zoe Levin is pretty good in her role as Emily despite the fact that she’s underwritten in terms of the fact that there’s not a lot of development to her other than that she gives Teddy a blow-job early in the film and is the object of lust for other guys. James Franco is fantastic as April’s soccer coach Mr. B. whom April has a crush on while he is also creepy for the fact that he also likes April as well. Nat Wolff is amazing as Fred as this unlikeable and destructive teen who likes to smoke weed but also engage in vandalism and other destructive elements to the point that he gets Teddy in trouble as well as use Emily for sexual reasons. Jack Kilmer is excellent as Teddy as a stoner who has a gift for art as he deals with the drawbacks of his friendship with Fred but also his own issues as he also has a crush towards April. Finally, there’s Emma Roberts in a brilliant performance as April as a teenage girl dealing with uncertainty with her life as she longs for her soccer coach as well as coping with growing pains as it is one of Roberts’ finest performances.
Palo Alto is a marvelous film from Gia Coppola that features great performances from Emma Roberts, Nat Wolff, and Jack Kilmer in his film debut. Along with its supporting cast, rapturous visuals, hypnotic music soundtrack, and its exploration of teenage life in a small town in Southern California. It is a film that is a mesmerizing coming-of-age film that doesn’t just explore teen angst and uncertainty but also people just trying to find themselves in a small town. In the end, Palo Alto is a remarkable film from Gia Coppola.
Mainstream
© thevoid99 2022
Based on the novel by Ned Vizzini, It’s Kind of a Funny Story is about a teenage boy who checks into a hospital following an attempted suicide jump where he is hospitalized for depression as he meet other individuals struggling with their own mental illnesses. Written for the screen and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the film is an exploration of a teenage boy dealing with the pressures of society and his own shortcomings as he would try to understand himself as well as those suffering from anxieties. Starring Keir Gilchrist, Emma Roberts, Lauren Graham, Jim Gaffigan, Jeremy Davies, Zoe Kravitz, Thomas Mann, Aasif Mandvi, Bernard White, Laverne Cox, Viola Davis, and Zach Galifianakis. It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a witty and engrossing film from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
With the pressure to succeed both in school and in life just before it’s really about to start, the film is about a teenage boy who checks into a hospital following a suicide attempt where he would stay for nearly a week as he meets various people with similar struggles as well as other forms of mental illness. It’s a film that explores the anxieties of a sixteen-year old kid where he would meet people around his age who also deal with problems as well as adults who are also coping with some form of illness. The film’s screenplay by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck is told mainly by its protagonist Craig Gilner (Keir Gilchrist) who attends a prestigious high school in Brooklyn as he’s due to finish an application for a prestigious summer school as his father George (Jim Gaffigan) expects him to do so while he is also in the shadow of his friend Aaron Fitzcarraldo (Thomas Mann) who is dating his longtime crush Nia (Zoe Kravitz). After imagining the idea of jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge where he would think about how his family would think, it would force Gilner to check into a hospital thinking he would stay for a short period of time.
Yet, the stay would be for a week for observation and therapy where Gilner meets an adult patient in Bobby (Zach Galifianakis) who is dealing with his own issues as well as trying to get a home to stay after he gets discharged. Gilner would also befriend another teenage patient in Noelle (Emma Roberts) as all of the teenage patients are staying at the adult ward due to renovations for the teenage ward. Noelle is there for self-harm as Gilner deals with the fact that he’s got a lot going for him but the pressure to succeed eventually got to him where he is able to gain sympathy from the other patients and the hospital’s therapist Dr. Minerva (Viola Davis) who is aware of his troubled thoughts.
The direction of Boden and Fleck is largely straightforward in terms of its compositions and setting while it does have some stylistic elements in the film as it relates to the drawings that Gilner would create. Shot on location in Brooklyn as well as parts of New York City, Boden and Fleck would use some wide shots but maintain an intimacy into the hospital setting such as its hallways, rooms, and common rooms for patients to socialize at. The usage of close-ups and medium shots as well as stylish moments of fantasy help play into the film’s quirky and offbeat tone while Boden and Fleck would know when to keep the film grounded in reality. Even in the group therapy sessions, simple conversations between Gilner, Bobby, and Noelle, and other moments where Gilner has to deal with elements of reality including small meetings with his family.
With Boden also serving as the film’s editor, she and Fleck would also create some stylish montages that play into the anxieties in Gilner’s life as well as some surreal sequences about the idea of what his future might be. Much of Boden’s editing would have some stylistic flair in the montages and in some jump-cuts that include a dream sequence of Gilner and other patients playing Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie. With the aid of animation director Brian Drucker, the animated backgrounds would play into this idea of fantasy but also hope for Gilner. The sense of realism does occur for its third act but there is also this element of hope as it relates to the time Gilner spent as well as realize that there’s nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to depression and mental illness. Overall, Boden and Fleck craft a touching and heartfelt film about a teenage boy seeking help at hospital where he learns about those that are also in need of help.
Cinematographer Andrij Parekh does excellent work with the film’s cinematography as it is largely straightforward for many of the interior scenes at the hospital and at Gilner’s school while there’s some low-key lighting for a few interior/exterior scenes set at night. Production designer Beth Mickle, with set decorator Carrie Stewart and art director Michael Ahern, does fantastic work with the look of the rooms, common rooms, and hallways at the hospital as well as the homes of Gilner’s family and friends. Costume designers Kurt and Bart do nice work with the costumes as it is largely straightforward with the exception of the glam-inspired costumes for the fantasy sequence.
Special effects makeup artist Michael Marino does terrific work with the makeup for the fantasy sequence as well as the look of the scars that Noelle is sporting on her body. Visual effects supervisor Anthony Luigi Santoro does brilliant work with the visual effects in bringing the animation to life as well as be used as an element of hope in the real world. Sound editor Paul Hsu does superb work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of the hospital and some of the sparse sounds that are made throughout the film. The film’s music by Broken Social Scene is wonderful for its indie-folk approach with melodic guitars and offbeat rhythms while music supervisor Andrea von Foerster provide a mixture of different musical genres from indie, punk, rock, hip-hop, and pop as it includes some songs by Broken Social Scene as well as the xx, Drum, Queen and David Bowie, the Damned, the Wowz, Pink Mountaintops, White Hinterland, Kurtis Blow, the Tom Robinson Band, Pharoah Sanders, Method Man and Redman, Common, Rachid Taha, and Black Sabbath.
The casting by Cindy Tolan is amazing as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from novelist Ned Vizzini as the hospital’s music teacher, Laverne Cox as a transgender patient, Ethan Herschenfeld as a Hasidic Jewish patient named Solomon, Mary Birdsong as Bobby’s ex-wife, Aasif Mandvi as Dr. Mahmoud who would be the first to analyze Gilner’s problems, Matthew Maher and Adrian Martinez as a couple of adult patients in their respective roles as Humble and Johnny, Morgan Murphy as a young patient in Joanie, Dana DeVestern as Gilner’s young sister Alissa, Bernard White as an Egyptian patient named Muqtada, and Jeremy Davies as a hospital monitor named Smitty who watches over everyone as he makes sure everyone is fine.
Thomas Mann and Zoe Kravitz are terrific in their respective roles as Gilner’s friends Aaron Fitzcarraldo and Nia with Mann as an overachiever who always get what he wants and Kravitz as Gilner’s crush who becomes interested in him during his time at the hospital. Lauren Graham and Jim Gaffigan are fantastic in their respective roles as Gilner’s parents in Lynn and George with the former being more concerned about her son’s well-being while the latter is hoping his son will get better and get back on track unaware of the pressure he’s putting towards his son. Viola Davis is excellent as Dr. Minerva as the hospital’s therapist who analyzes Gilner as well as be someone who is understanding and willing to listen as it’s a low-key yet somber performance from Davis.
Emma Roberts is brilliant as Noelle as a teenage patient with issues of self-harm as someone who is intrigued by Gilner as well as being also witty and aware of her own situation. Zach Galifianakis is incredible as Bobby as an adult patient who is going through issues of his own but also offers a lot of wisdom to Gilner about life as well as the fact that things do get more complicated in adulthood but there’s also hope. Finally, there’s Keir Gilchrist in a remarkable performance as Craig Gilner as a teenage boy with a lot going for him as he copes with the pressure to succeed as well as a lot of the anxieties where he learns how to cope as well as not be afraid of seeking help.
It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a marvelous film from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Featuring a great ensemble cast, a superb music soundtrack, touching study of mental illness and depression, and the desire for hope in a complicated world. It’s a film that manages to showcase a young man trying to deal with his own anxieties and demands of the world where he finds solace through people who are also going through similar struggles. In the end, It’s Kind of a Funny Story is an exhilaratingly rich film from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck Films: Half Nelson - Sugar (2008 film) - Mississippi Grind – Captain Marvel - The Auteurs #71: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
© thevoid99 2019
Written and directed by James C. Strouse, The Winning Season is the story of a down-on-his-luck ex-high school basketball star who is asked by an old friend to coach a girl’s basketball team as he help them in and out of the court. It’s a film that follows a man who is in need to redeem himself as well as help some girls going through growing pains. Starring Sam Rockwell, Emma Roberts, Rooney Mara, Shareeka Epps, Emily Rios, Meaghan Witri, Melanie Hinkle, Margo Martindale, and Rob Corddry. The Winning Season is a delightful and charming film from James C. Strouse.
Set in a small town in Indiana, the film is a simple story of an alcoholic busboy who is asked by an old high school friend who is now principal in coaching the girl’s varsity basketball team. For Bill (Sam Rockwell), the chance to do something other than drown in sorrows in alcohol as well as cope with being estranged from his own daughter is something he needs. Yet, James C. Strouse’s script doesn’t exactly play by convention as Bill is someone that is reluctant to do the job as the team of girls he has aren’t that good with one of them sporting an injured foot. Still, they want to play as Bill is aware that they have the heart but need a lot of work as it gives him the chance to do something good. Even as he’s become estranged from his own daughter who wants nothing to do with him as she also plays basketball for another school. While Strouse does play into a formula of sorts of turning a team of misfits into a winning team. He plays with it a bit as he focus on the girls themselves as they go through growing pains that is expected as a teenager as Bill helps them out with additional help from his new assistant coach in Donna (Margo Martindale).
Strouse’s direction is quite simple as it play into this life of a deadbeat loser who is given a chance to make something of himself again. Though it’s largely shot in upstate New York during the winter, the film does play into a look that is quite drab and low-key as it relates to the world that Bill is in as someone who feels sorry for himself constantly and is unable to do things right for his daughter. While Strouse uses some wide shots to establish some of the locations as well as in some of the basketball game scenes. Strouse’s usage of the medium shots and close-up would give the film an intimacy as it relates to the characters and their own situations. Especially as there is an equal amount of tension to the girls as they are enduring some of the awkwardness of being a teenager as well as other personal things. Yet, Strouse does keep things light so that the drama doesn’t overwhelm things as much of the humor feels natural as it would play in the third act where Bill does whatever he can to help his team from afar as it would also be a major moment in his journey for redemption. Overall, Strouse creates an engaging and heartfelt film about a former high school basketball star coaching a girl’s varsity team and make them be winners.
Cinematographer Frank G. DeMarco does excellent work with the film‘s low-key cinematography as it emphasizes more on a drab look with low-key lighting to play into Bill‘s state of mind only to become more colorful later on once he starts to care about what he does and do right for himself. Editor Joe Klotz does nice work with the editing as it is mostly straightforward to play into the humor and some of the drama. Production designer Stephen Beatrice, with set decorator Cristina Casanas and art director Matthew Munn, does fantastic work with the look of Bill‘s apartment home as well as the high school gym where he and the girls do practices.
Costume designer Victoria Farrell does terrific work with the costumes from the design of the school uniforms as well as the design of the school mascots. Sound designers Rusty Dunn and Lewis Goldstein do superb work with the sound as it play into the way music is presented in some scenes as well as the raucous atmosphere of the basketball games. The film’s music by Edward Shearmur does wonderful work with the music as its mixture of jazz and rock help play into some of the film‘s humor and melancholia while music supervisor Tracy McKnight creates a fun soundtrack that is a mix of music from acts like Ben Lee, Patti LaBelle, Hamilton, Joe Frank, & Reynolds, and other acts in the world of hip-hop and pop.
The casting by Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee is brilliant as it feature some notable small roles from Kevin Breznahan as an adult boyfriend of Wendy, Jessica Hecht as Bill’s ex-wife Stacey, Connor Paolo as a varsity basketball player named Damon whom Abbie is fond of, Vanessa Gordillo as a new member of the basketball team in Flor, and Shana Dowdeswell as Bill’s daughter Molly whom he’s been estranged by as she despises him for being a loser. Rob Corddry is terrific as the school principal Terry who is an old friend of Bill that offers him the job as he has a daughter in the team. Margo Martindale is fantastic as Donna as a team bus driver who reluctantly helps Bill as an assistant coach despite her lack of knowledge in basketball as she would prove to be an asset in helping the girls with their growing pains. Melanie Hinkle is superb as Mindy as the team’s injured player who helps film many of the games as well as provide some ideas of what the team could do. Meaghan Witri is wonderful as Tamra as Terry’s daughter who is coping with her own sexual identity as she turns to Donna for advice.
Emily Rios is excellent as Kathy as a new student who is a good shooter but faces some prejudice as some opposing players would call her some racial slurs. Shareeka Epps is amazing as Lisa as a player who isn’t fond of Kathy at first until she stands up for her as well as become a less selfish player. Rooney Mara is remarkable as Wendy as Mindy’s sister who has an affair with an older man despite the fact that she’s underage as she copes with wanting to be more grown up as she is still young. Emma Roberts is marvelous as Abbie as the teenage girl who would coax Bill to do something as she also deals with first love where it’s a very realistic and charming performance from Roberts. Finally, there’s Sam Rockwell in an incredible performance as Bill as once-great high school basketball star who has become a deadbeat alcoholic as he copes with his failures until he is given the chance to coach a girl’s team as he finally finds meaning in his life again.
The Winning Season is an excellent film from James C. Strouse. Featuring a great cast led by Sam Rockwell as well as a witty yet heartfelt script and playing with the conventions of sports films. It’s a film that offers something with some substance while not being afraid to follow the formula as well as present characters that are quite real. In the end, The Winning Season is an amazing film from James C. Strouse.
© thevoid99 2016
