Shia LaBeouf and a talented newcomer help The Peanut Butter Falcon transcend its feel-good clichés
Film Reviews Movie Review
There’s a regrettable tendency in Hollywood to employ actors with Down syndrome either as harbingers of weirdness (see Lars von Trier’s miniseries The Kingdom) or as irrepressible life forces that are mostly around to remind uptight “normal” characters what’s really important. A smidgen of the latter can be found in The Peanut Butter Falcon, which pairs Shia LaBeouf with newcomer Zack Gottsagen, who has Down syndrome. This quirky indie buddy movie’s basic premise strongly recalls the largely forgotten Belgian dramedy The Eighth Day, for which Daniel Auteuil and Pascal Duquenne (who likewise has Down syndrome) jointly won Cannes’ Best Actor prize back in 1996. But Gottsagen is too lively to be completely pinned down by feel-good clichés, and his unpredictability brings out the best in LaBeouf. As in most buddy pictures, so long as the chemistry works, all else is forgivable.
There’s a fair amount to forgive, plotwise. As in The Eighth Day, we begin with an escape from an institution: Zak (Gottsagen), who’s been stuck for two years in a nursing home, enlists the help of his roommate (Bruce Dern) to bend the iron bars on their window, then greases himself up and manages to squeeze through, wearing only his tighty whities. Rather than meeting Auteuil’s uptight businessman, however, Zak sneaks onto a small boat owned by Tyler (LaBoeuf), who needs to engineer a speedy escape of his own in order to avoid being beaten or possibly even killed by an angry crab-fishing rival (John Hawkes). After some obligatory efforts to get rid of his stowaway, Tyler agrees to escort Zak from Virginia to North Carolina, where Zak hopes to attend a wrestling school he’s seen on an ancient VHS tape at the nursing home. (He eventually adopts a persona that gives the film its oddball title.) Meanwhile, Eleanor (Dakota Johnson), an empathetic volunteer at the facility, sets out to find Zak, ultimately getting roped into accompanying both men on the tail end of their incredible journey.
Sounds pretty hackneyed, admittedly, and writer-directors Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz lean heavily on cute montages and stock reversals. (When the gang walks away dejected from the dilapidated trailer home of Zak’s now-long-retired favorite wrestler, who’s played by Thomas Haden Church, you just know the guy’s gonna turn up later in full costume.) But the easy rapport between Gottsagen and LaBoeuf is so consistently winning that it’s hard to stay annoyed at the movie for very long. Their dynamic recalls the one between Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise in Rain Man, minus the stuntlike nature of Hoffman’s performance; Gottsagen does rich, multifaceted work as Zak, putting a sarcastic spin on many of his lines and conveying volumes at times without speaking at all. Nilson and Schwartz built the entire movie around Gottsagen, having discovered him at a camp for aspiring actors with disabilities; he’s been studying his craft since age 3, and it shows. Sure, Scarlett Johansson could probably have played the role (as well as any of the trees in the background). But if you seek a good example of why diversity in casting and conception makes for a richer cinema landscape, look no further.
34 Comments
I despised The Eighth Day but that last paragraph sounds encouraging.
Thank fuck I’m not the only one, then.There’s a reason that film is “largely forgotten” – because it is wholly forgettable.
Emma Stone playing Asian, Scarlett Johanssen playing a tree… next we’ll need to have Brie Larson play the concept of time itself.
There’s a No Small Parts episode about an actor with Down Syndrome, Josh “The Ponceman” Perry – It’s a good watch.
he’s fucking hilarious.
Sure, Scarlett Johansson could probably have played the role Ain’t no snark like college-freshman-home-for-Christmas snark.
This movie sounds great…so I’m glad the last paragraph of this article instead decided to focus on how heroic Internet Warriors are for getting a movie about an interesting trans (or gay, it’s not actually clear from historical record) person cancelled, because the person whose presence the studio funding depending on was driven out of the role.
well you had me for 4 words
Obviously, the ScarJo Stunt Casting Extravaganza would have been an enduring masterpiece of cinema. There is a kind of fascinating twisty logic to the idea that we need to increase queer representation… by casting straight cis people as queer characters… in projects made by straight cis people… that won’t see the light of day without a gigantic star in the lead role. I guess it’s noble to elevate queer narratives all the way to mediocrity?
Go somewhere else capitalist.
If ScarJo was really interested in advancing the LGBTQ community she should have cast herself as a side character, and an actual trans actor as the main role. MANY films have done this type of thing before and succeeded
Stock and simple or not, it has Mick Foley in it, and I always turn up for Dude Love.
And Jake Roberts! All we need now is Terry Funk to complete the “Beyond The Mat” trifecta.
this sounds kind of wonderful
The trailer hooked me, it’s on my theater-hunting radar.
I’m happy to see LaBeouf finally emerging from his own ass. The guy CAN act, when you’re not being distracted by wanting to punch the screen. Really liked him in Fury a few years back.
Yeah, I dunno if he just can’t get out of his own way or that he is a very good actor BECAUSE he has screws loose, but when the dude simply acts…he’s really good. Seconded about him being tremendous in “Fury”.
labeouf’s talent has never been in question. even as a kid. i mean, Holes is iconic. he’s just a weirdo as a person. kind of always hoped he would pull it together. and he seems to be! theres an upcoming film he wrote and made about his life and he plays his own abusive father. getting some very early oscar buzz for him.
I didn’t see Holes until he had established himself as an oddball, and was absolutely impressed by the job he turned in. So you know it’s in there.
Movies that are haunted…The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Watership Down (1978)
Roller Boogie (1979)
The Shining (1980)
American Pop (1981)
The Outsiders (1983)
The Neverending Story (1984)
Ed Wood (1994)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Her (2013)
Explain please. This has the potential to take me down an interesting rabbit hole.
It’s hard to explain. It’s a feeling the movie evokes.
Can the name ‘Shia LaBeouf’ exist in a sentence that makes sense?
“Former actor Shia LaBeouf killed by escaped lion”
He was an actor?!
to hear him tell itreally, Shia and Thomas Hayden Church … wow, how fucking lucky to have both worthless shits together
Genuinely curious where the hate for Haden Church is coming from? I haven’t seen or heard anything other than him mostly keeping to himself and taking bit roles here and there.Also just saw the flick and I think he did a fine job with his little part.
don’t tell me now that’s fake news … I will come down there and beat that ass … you tell me that is real
Sounds good, looking forward to it. Anyone from the UK looking for an irreverent Downs syndrome comedy drama could do worse than watching Ups and Downs on BBC iPlayer. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0004k6f/ups-and-downs
Aw, anything with those kinda goofy bastards are about the best thing going.
I like it
This summer, Shia LeBouf is…Seriously. Is the sub-conscious on Shia LeBouf turning around? Are we really willing to retrogress? Sure, we’re not entirely where we need to be as a society, but ostracizing Shia LeBouf was one of many first steps in the right direction.All it takes is a feel-goodery indie-film with a handicapable sidekick to fall back into good graces? ¯\_㋡_/¯ “Shia Lebouf is a good actor” I see people are now saying.Since when?
damn this was so briefly in theaters around here i apparently already missed it! i thought this would be coming near me this weekend. i hope its on VOD soon i really want to see it.
Finally saw this yesterday and thought it was wonderful. I would have given it a B+.