Mid90s

Starring: Sunny Suljic, Katherine Waterston, Lucas Hedges, Na-Kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Gio Galicia, Ryder McLaughlin, Alexa Demie, Harmony Korine
Directed by: Jonah Hill
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
2018

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A thirteen year old boy (Sunny Suljic) befriends a group of older skaters and they begin exerting both positive and negative influence on his life in Los Angeles.

Review:

Tim: I have to say, I'm quite impressed with Jonah Hill, making his feature film directorial debut here (he also wrote the script). Mid90s might not quite be a great movie, but it gets extremely close. This is a confident debut that suggests Hill may have a long and illustrious career ahead of him if he decides to continue as a director. This film shows insight into humanity inside the mid-1990s time period, but it also shows restraint and the use of subtlety from its director. This is certainly one of the more impressive movies of 2018.

In some ways, this was a difficult movie to watch. I was about Stevie's age in the mid 1990s and while I didn't grow up in Los Angeles and wasn't exposed to the whole skateboarding scene and culture, I know what it's like to be that age in that time period. The 1990s feels recent to me, so it's hard to believe it's been a quarter of a century. The world was very different then, and Hill recreates that here. Even more impressively, he's able to capture that emotionally fragile in-between age. The main character here isn't a child anymore, but he's a lot way away from adulthood. It's an impressionable age, where kids even a few years older feel like they come from a different, inaccessible world. You're trying to find your footing in the world, building the person you'll be for the rest of your life. It's emotional and confusing and Hill manages to convey all of that with his characters, their dialogue, and what they experience. There's real wisdom behind this film and I continually had to remind myself that it was Hill- an inexperienced director and a still relatively young man who was able to craft such a powerful, insightful film.

The characters are fantastic. Stevie is the protagonist and Sunny Suljic does a fantastic job portraying him here. He's able to capture that innocent and vulnerability that comes, especially with teenagers who think they're smarter and wiser than they are. I can't say I loved the character of Stevie, but I felt an emotional connection to him. Na-Kel Smith was fantastic. I can't put into words how amazing he is in this film. He has such an easy confidence that masks pain that comes from seeing the darker side of the world. His performance is light, yet there's real emotional depth behind it. He's cool and seemingly wise and you can immediately tell why others would idolize him. Smith and Suljic work well together and it's their unlikely friendship that creates of the most memorable moments of the film. This movie works because of their performances.

The supporting cast is good. Katherine Waterston doesn't have enough to do, but she's still effective. I'm liking Lucas Hedges more and more with every performance I see. His character here isn't likeable, but he delivers a strong performance regardless. He perfectly captures that meaner, older brother many people had. Olan Prenatt gives an incredible supporting performance as well. He creates this character that is relatable because everyone knew someone like him growing up. The importance of Prenatt to this film cannot be overstated. Gio Galicia was good, and although Ryder McLaughlin was less essential, he does have a few memorable moments. As a whole, the assembled cast here truly makes the movie.

Mid90s is a fascinating look at growing up in a time that feels recent (to those who lived it), yet was a considerable number of years ago. I found it interesting to compare my small town, Midwest experience with this big city, west coast one. There were parallels, but it also felt like another world. Hill does a great job crafting these relatable characters and giving them enough experiences for us to understand what their life was like. I was intrigued by the characters and developed an emotional connection to them throughout the course of the film. As far as directorial debuts go, this is a very impressive one. I hope Hill continues to direct.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



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