10/24/14

Laggies

Act your age? What a concept! We see a (sorta) happily engaged gal lie to her fiancé so she can hide out for a week with her new-found (and very young) friend. Directed by Seattle's talented Lynn Shelton ("Your Sister's Sister") this charming little R-rated comedy was shot in her home town. The aerial views are particularly appealing.

We see our heroine confronted by evidence that she has grown-up issues in her life, friends getting married, friends having babies, parents hitting a rough patch, a marriage proposal, none of which are welcome from her immature perspective. She WANTS to be stuck in adolescence...

Featured are:
  • Keira Knightley ("Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit") Megan's erratic reaction to the bumps in her personal road show us that she has never developed adult coping skills. Seeing a teenager deal with similar problems is a BIG surprise that offers unexpected insights.
  • Chloë Grace Moretz ("Hugo") Annika is a wise girl; she has been competently raised by her father but still misses her mother. Her issues are the normal ones that teenagers encounter: curfews, boyfriends and a bit of alcohol.
  • Sam Rockwell ("Moon") Craig is an attorney who has a BIG problem with a grown woman having a sleepover with his teenage daughter. He too, has lingering issues as a result of his wife's abandonment.
  • Mark Webber ("Save the Date") Anthony is a younger version of Megan's father: over-indulgent, adoring and eager to be with her. It's his marriage proposal that sends her into a tailspin.
  • Jeff Garlin ("Arrested Development") We only need to see Ed once to understand why Megan is a permanent adolescent. This father is the poster child for over-indulgent parenting.
Shelton has a knack for giving us relatable characters, a reality based script, witty dialogue and (fairly) good, clean fun. We are not subjected to sweaty bodies, gunfire, vehicular mayhem (although a car hits some mailboxes), or blowie uppie stuff. We liked it!
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Take a look:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2375659289
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