20th Century Women
Starring: Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, Lucas Jade Zumann, Alison Elliott
Directed by: Mike Mills
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A teenage boy (Lucas Jade Zumann) is heavily influenced by a number of women in his life in 1979.

Review:

Tim: I realize 20th Century Women got really good reviews from critics and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. I hear all that, and yet I still just kind of shrugged my shoulders at this film. It's okay, I suppose. At 1 hour, 59 minutes, it's too long and not nearly as interesting as it thinks it is. I never really connected with the characters, never really liked them all that much. The film is definitely a drama and it works to develop its characters, but the whole thing felt like it dragged from beginning to end. It was fine, but I truly believe the film is overrated.

The story is average. Our protagonist is a teenage boy in 1979. He has an overbearing mother, idolizes a girl who has firmly placed him in the friend zone, and befriends an older woman who opens his eyes to the world. Typing that, it seems really interesting, right? I was intrigued and excited to see this film. There are moments in Mike Mills' film that work, but I simply did not enjoy the pace of the overall film. This is the first Mills film I've seen, so perhaps all his movies are like this, but I needed vastly more compelling characters to hold my attention for two hours. I know that Mills based much of this film on his own life, but perhaps he found his own story more interesting than regular viewers? I don't know, critics loved this film, so I see I'm in the minority here.

Lucas Jade Zumann does a good job in the lead role. He has a nice blend of everyman vulnerability and strength that makes him interesting. Annette Bening has the flashiest role as his mother. She's a good actress and delivers a strong performance, but I couldn't help but see Oscars in her eyes. It felt like a performance shooting for awards, rather than an authentic performance for its own sake. I love that Bening has been getting these great later career roles, but you sense a little of the desperation, since despite being nominated for four Academy Awards, she still has never won (and didn't get nominated here). Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but that's what her performance felt like. Elle Fanning was okay, but she's so wooden as an actress. I just never believe her. This movie would have been better which a stronger actress in this part. Greta Gerwig was actually terrific- I loved her performance and give her a ton of credit. I liked Billy Crudup as well. The cast as a whole was slightly above average, but I can't say I truly loved it.

I give Mills credit for trying to tell a real story about flawed people. It just felt inaccessible to me. I wasn't interested in any of the characters or their developing stories (Gerwig's is probably the most interesting). The film's pace felt glacial and focused on too many things that weren't especially interesting. I didn't leave the movie feeling more knowledgeable or inspired or anything. I left feeling like I was glad it was over. Everyone has their own opinions (which is why movies are wonderful) so I recognize that a lot of people loved this movie. I felt like it was too orchestrated, a bit too self indulgent. Movies like this need a moment of payoff- when you feel like the time invested in the characters was worth it, a moment that you won't forget. It didn't feel like 20th Century Women had that. As a whole, the film was surprisingly unmemorable. I simply couldn't connect, couldn't follow what the director was trying to say (or maybe I just wasn't interested).

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



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