Director: Zelda Williams
Cast: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano, Carla Gugino
Have I Seen it Before: Nope.
Did I Like It: It’s always delightful to come across a film that is both charming and more often than not surprising.
Williams makes a directing debut that is self-assured and clear headed about precisely what movie she wants to present. One might have had a hard time imagining that John Hughes and early Tim Burton would blend together so smoothly, but one might also hope that Williams doesn’t limit herself to that aesthetic in the future. Based on some of her short work, she could truly be a versatile director for years to come.
I for one enjoyed both Juno (2008) and Jennifer’s Body (2009), but I could see the validity of some who would complain that Diablo Cody’s dialogue spends a lot of time trying to keep the audience at a distance, but I was struck by none of those qualities here. Characters still have some idiosyncrasies in their speech, but it doesn’t necessarily sound like the dialogue that got routinely satirized in the late 2000s. Maybe she was shamed out of her weaker impulses, but I’d like to think that she is just more comfortable and no longer needs to rely on the same bag of tricks.
Performances, too are uniformly great. I know Ross’ kid from Friends and one half of the kid from Big Daddy (1999) grew up somewhere along the line, but as someone who never regularly had the Disney channel and still doesn’t understand the appeal of Riverdale, I didn’t know the guy was actually good, managing to turn in an authentically silent performance (in a movie written by Diablo Cody, no less), while Newton manages to be both believable and likable (probably needed qualities in what ultimately amounts to a romantic comedy) while she is slowly descending into what amounts to a murder spree.
* Genuinely surprised to learn it was only Cole who did episodes of Friends. Learn something new every day.