“The Peanut Butter Falcon” Movie Review

    After seeing the trailer for “The Peanut Butter Falcon”, I knew I really wanted to see it but I just never got around to seeing it in the theaters.  Unfortunately, I just don’t have the time to see every movie in the theaters considering I work full time.  When the film got released to DVD and Blu-ray, I knew I would end up picking it up and I did just that.  So after a long wait, I am finally able to review this film.  Hold your applause please.

    The film tells the story of Zak, a young man with Down syndrome who longs to become a professional wrestler like his hero the Salt Water Redneck.  Watching old VHS tapes of the Salt Water Redneck, he dreams of attending his wrestling school.  Unfortunately for Zak, he is living in a nursing home under the supervision of Eleanor.  Zak escapes the nursing home with some assistance from his fellow resistances.  On the run, he meets up with small town crook Tyler and the pair set off on an adventure together before eventually forming a bond along the way.

    This film feels very much like a retelling of “Huckleberry Finn” (deliberately so by the filmmakers in fact) which is sort of refreshing in this day and age.  As much as I love big blockbusters, it is nice to see small and personal films every now and then, especially a film like this.  This film was made with love and it shows.

    The film stars Zack Gottsagen as Zak and he is very much the heart and soul of the movie.  The filmmakers Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz cast Zack in the lead role after meeting with him at an actors bootcamp and becoming inspired by him.  The filmmakers were actually offered money not to hire Gottsagen, but they stood by their choice and it paid off beautifully.

    Shia LaBeouf also stars as the troubled Tyler.  LaBeouf is excellent in the film and this film stands as a testament to how great he can be.  LaBeouf actually got into legal trouble due to his drinking problems during the production of this film and in a case of real life mirroring film, it was the friendship he formed with Gottsagen that helped straighten the actor out.  Dakota Johnson also shined as Eleanor and proved she has more to offer than the “50 Shades” franchise.  I should also point out that Bruce Dern was a real standout despite a short appearance.

    If I had any criticism of this film, it would just be that some of the relationships depicted in the film seemed a bit rushed and because of this, I didn’t feel they felt as organic as perhaps they could have felt.  That being said, the performances of the three leads helped gloss over that some.

    On a side note, as a WWE fan, it was sort of cool seeing a film depicting wrestling as one of it’s main story elements.  The fact that Mick Foley and Jake “The Snake” Roberts also make appearances in the film just makes it that much better.

    “The Peanut Butter Falcon” almost feels like a throwback film these days.  It’s personal and heartfelt and the performances really help make the film feel special.  If you are a Mark Twain fan (or WWE fan for that matter), “The Peanut Butter Falcon” is a must.

Grade: B+

“Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” Movie Review

    It is getting around the time of year when studios start releasing spooky films in hopes they might have legs until Halloween, however some studios release their films around summer in time for a Halloween release on home video.  “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” decided to gamble on a late summer release so it will be interesting to see if the film does better on DVD and Blu-ray than it did at the multiplex.  The film is based on the book series by Alvin Schwartz and the illustrations by Stephen Gammell.

    The film tells the story of friends Stella, Auggie and Chuck as they get their revenge on bully Tommy on Halloween night only to have Tommy chase them to a local drive in theater where the trio hide in the vehicle of Ramón.  The group decides to check out the Bellows haunted house after and they discover a secret room where Sarah Bellows was supposedly locked away.  The group get locked away in the room when Tommy finds them.  Upon discovering the diary of Sarah Bellows, they are eerily set free and each go home.  The diary begins to add a scary story by itself about the bully Tommy and a scarecrow.  Once Tommy goes missing, the group realize that maybe something is going on with the diary and they are write, for the book begins to write scary stories about them all.  Now they must race to figure out how to stop the diary before it is too late.

    Let me start by saying this is an enjoyable horror film geared towards the pre teen demographic.  The film contains plenty of jump scares and twisted visuals but nothing too graphic either.  The creepy visuals might by too much for some younger visuals but young adults will no doubt enjoy the frights.  It’s amazing how the drawings of the book seem to come alive and the visual flair of Guillermo del Toro is easy to see in the movie.  It is definitely a creepy experience.

    The story plays out with plenty of scares but not much character development.  The four main characters aren’t given a lot to do except seem scared.  Gabriel Rush reminds me of a young Jason Sudeikis but that was about all I took away from his performance, while Austin Zajur seemed to channel Shia LaBeouf throughout the film.

    One aspect that I thought took something away from the movie slightly was that the film shared a plot that was very similar to the recent “Goosebumps” adaptation.  Seeing as how both films were also based on popular young adult horror books, it slightly took away from an overall enjoyable film going experience.  They just needed to change up the plot device a bit more in my opinion.

    “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” will probably never be considered a classic but it has such a unique style that it shouldn’t fade away completely either.  It is an overall enjoyable popcorn flick and I have a feeling the film will be destined to cult classic status at the very least.

Grade: B-