It's been a few months since I put up a movie review on this site/blog/ramblings thing, so I thought it was maybe time to start trying this thing out again. Art is one of the most important parts of my life, it's where I find a lot of inspiration and motivation as I'm sure a lot of people do. There's something so special about when multiple elements just come together to tell a great story, which is the reason why I enjoy film so much. It's got so many factors that it relies upon and it's pretty crazy how it can all come together to tell a great story. Which brings me to "The Peanut Butter Falcon", an indie movie released a few weeks ago here in the wonderful state of Florida*.
"The Peanut Butter Falcon" follows a peanut butter obsessed bird-creature named Maverick voiced by Tom Cruise. Actually, that's not true, but it could be eventually.
"The Peanut Butter Falcon" is actually about two guys on the run from the terrible situations in their current lives. Zak (Zack Gottsagen) is a young man who is forced to live in a retirement home under care due to his Down syndrome until he finds a way to escape. Tyler (Shia LaBeouf) has his own problems he's dealing with in his job as a fisherman, starting trouble with the other fishermen in his workplace. Zak and Tyler come together after Tyler burns down his rival's fishing supply and runs away on a boat that Zak happens to be hiding in. After a less than ideal first meeting, Tyler eventually decides to let Zak tag-along with him and they quickly develop a friendship. Tyler learns about Zak's dream of becoming a professional wrestler and training with his favorite wrestler The Salt Water Redneck. Tyler promises to get Zak to the wrestling school, and that's where their journey begins. While all this is happening, Eleanor (Dakota Johnson) who was in charge of taking care of Zak at the retirement home is, is searching for him across the state.
It's probably important to note that the character of Zak is played by someone who actually has Down syndrome, which is awesome to see. It actually makes the story work a lot better when someone playing a character who has Down syndrome actually has it, go figure. He's really the highlight of this movie because he plays his character so perfectly and has so much charm and good comedic timing with his lines. His relationship with Shia LaBeouf's character Tyler is what makes this movie really worth watching, it feels very real and it gets quite emotional at times. Dakota Johnson's character Eleanor who joins them a little later in the movie also has great chemistry with both of them. The setting of the movie also helped make a story better since a lot of it took place in the southern lakes, rivers, and swamps which I feel aren't used a lot in movies recently. Those settings were all shot beautifully the way it was shot really added to the sense of adventure they movie was going for.
The movie really has some great emotional moments, a lot of laughs and even some good intense scenes. Like I said before, it's crazy to think of how many factors go into telling a great story through film, and I think this movie nailed most of those aspects. Memorable characters, good writing, good soundtrack/score, good cinematography, and good acting all exist in this movie. Movies like this are one of the main reasons I even wanted to start doing these reviews a few years ago because I think they need more attention. I want more original stories and characters to exist in film and I want to see more movies like this one, ones that don't rely on established properties or franchises. Not that I don't love those too, but I've always had a soft spot for smaller projects like this one and I get really excited when I see a great movie like this. So if you get a chance I recommend checking this one out, it's definitely worth a watch.
* Florida is not wonderful
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