Movie Notes: Kicking And Screaming
= 4 stars
Starring Eric Stoltz, Chris Eigeman, Parker Posey
Directed by Noah Baumbach
Synopsis
After graduation, several college friends have no clue what to do with their lives except complain about the pointlessness of it all.
The Good
- Each character sports some sadly familiar, aimless post-college hangup — Grover (Josh Hamilton) is dumped by girlfriend Jane (Olivia d’Abo) before she moves to Prauge — he starts boning freshmen. Chef has been a student for ten years, while Miami is totally nuts (Parker Posey). Max (Chris Eigman) establishes a base of dark humor with wry observations delivered in a deadpan, sarcastic tone on his present occupation of absolutely nothing. They all embody that post-college fuzz where one hopelessly realizes the critical thinking done in college has little purpose in the real world.
- Worth comparing to another film about recent college graduates from this time: Reality Bites. Kicking And Screaming is subtler, smarter, and funnier, due to better writing and a more realistic tone. I mean, “You shoot for the stars and hit the roof…” or “Let’s talk about your dinosaur classes and all that shit…”- classic.
- Love the elegant way Grover’s wistful flashbacks are introduced, through black and white, still images slowly coming to life.
The Bad
- The film’s heart — the core romance between Grover and Jane — resolves to a real question mark. I suppose there wasn’t any good way to end it, but it’s almost too true to life.
Conclusion
Dark humor, but how can it not be after the inevitable realization that college means paying tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege of extending adolescence. The biggest irony: only college teaches the critical thinking skills necessary to recognize this. They give you the tools to realize you’ve been taken for a ride. Recommended.
IMDB: Kicking And Screaming
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Rotten Tomatoes: Kicking And Screaming 56%