If you are not familiar with the works and stylings of Director Chloe Zhao you need to know that she is a filmmaker with a style unique to her. She is infatuated with the "wild west," she tells slice-of-life stories of ordinary people, and her films feel like they are part narrative movie and part documentary. 

Simply put, this is one of the best movies of the year. Carey Mulligan, who is typically amazing in everything she is in, gives the best performance of her career to this point. She plays a woman set on revenge, but she doesn't just charge ahead without thinking. No, she is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. 

Imagine a movie that opens with the first four minutes being barely more than two establishing shots. One, a shot of the outside of the main character's house, and one, through the window, of the main character while he talks on the phone, (with no audible dialogue for us to hear). Between those two shots is another, long establishing shot of a close up of the main character before 20 seconds of "action", which is him dialing and talking on the phone. 

18 TO PARTY

Clint Says: Worth a watch if you like Indie films

 

If you grew up watching movies from the 1980's then you know that John Hughes was the master of the teen comedy. He captured the reality and true essence of teens growing up in the time before cell phones and the internet. 

 

Now comes a guy named Jeffrey Roda, with very few credits to his name, but he's essentially given us a 1980's, Junior High version of THE BREAKFAST CLUB. Really. The whole movie centers around a group of Junior High kids waiting outside of a nightclub for what seems like two or three hours, and while they are waiting, they discuss and debate all of the issues that a 1980's Junior High kid would find important. 

 

Now for the reality check. Is this as good as a John Hughes film? Not even close. It's good, and sometimes it even borders on great, but it isn't anywhere near the same league as THE BREAKFAST CLUB or any of the other classics by Hughes. The main issue with it is the slow pace and the clunky transitions. You can almost hear the director saying, "and, scene," at the end of a segment, then readjusting the cameras to shoot the next bit. It just doesn't flow like it should. 

 

Aside from the pacing and transition issues, everything else is pretty spot on. The acting is very good for the most part. There are a couple of small moments where the dialogue doesn't feel legitimate, but overall, the characters do feel real. 

 

If you are a child of the 80's this film will bring back a lot of crazy Junior High memories. I would recommend seeing this just for the memories alone.