The Peanut Butter Falcon
Directed by: Tyler Nilson & Michael Schwartz
Written by: Tyler Nilson & Michael Schwartz
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Zack Gottsagen, Dakota Johnson, John Hawkes, Thomas Haden Church, Jake Roberts, Yelawolf, Bruce Dern, Joe Bernthal
Adventure - 93 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 14 Aug 2019
Written by: Tyler Nilson & Michael Schwartz
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Zack Gottsagen, Dakota Johnson, John Hawkes, Thomas Haden Church, Jake Roberts, Yelawolf, Bruce Dern, Joe Bernthal
Adventure - 93 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 14 Aug 2019
Sometimes songs and soundtracks convey more atmosphere to a film’s setting than any dialogue or panoramic pictures. Remember how O Brother, Where Art Thou’s bluegrass and gospel music said so much about the Mississippi Depression era? The Peanut Butter Falcon’s song usage doesn’t reach that superlative level, but its hearty doses of The Staple Singers and other background soul and tinny country helps make you see and feel the Outer Banks humidity and how it makes everything sticky. Nobody wears a clean shirt, basic hygiene is an ad hoc hobby, but these details sport an authentic feeling of how blue collar shrimpers and fishermen interact with their environment - it may be beautiful out here, but life is rough.
He’s no fisherman, in fact he can’t even swim, but life is no picnic for Zak (Zack Gottsagen) either. The state institutionalized Zack in a government-run old folk’s home because some bureaucrat had no idea what else to do with him. Zack has no family willing to claim him. He’s only 22…and Zack has Down Syndrome. Both Zack, his elderly roommates, and his friendly caretaker, Eleanor (Dakota Johnson, Fifty Shades Freed), recognize he is in the wrong place, but you can’t argue against nameless and faceless paperwork. Zack may not understand all the ins-and-outs of how the world works, but he knows one thing - when he breaks out, his mission will be to travel to a wrestling school run by his hero, the Salt Water Redneck, who he idolizes while memorizing his moves like the Atomic Throw on a tired and near-death VHS tape.
He’s no fisherman, in fact he can’t even swim, but life is no picnic for Zak (Zack Gottsagen) either. The state institutionalized Zack in a government-run old folk’s home because some bureaucrat had no idea what else to do with him. Zack has no family willing to claim him. He’s only 22…and Zack has Down Syndrome. Both Zack, his elderly roommates, and his friendly caretaker, Eleanor (Dakota Johnson, Fifty Shades Freed), recognize he is in the wrong place, but you can’t argue against nameless and faceless paperwork. Zack may not understand all the ins-and-outs of how the world works, but he knows one thing - when he breaks out, his mission will be to travel to a wrestling school run by his hero, the Salt Water Redneck, who he idolizes while memorizing his moves like the Atomic Throw on a tired and near-death VHS tape.
On the lam, shoeless, and clad only in a pair of tighty-whities, Zack runs into Tyler (Shia LaBeouf, Fury). Tyler is in the middle of a downward spiral fueled by an escalating series of poor life choices. Mourning his brother’s death, making enemies of the entire local fisherman outfit (something you really don’t want to do), and finally on the run for his life, the last thing Tyler needs is to be slowed down by and watch out for Zack, whose appearance in his life he takes far more nonchalantly then most would. Tyler is following the road south and agrees to take Zack as far as Salt Water Redneck’s school. Tyler does not have to do this. He points Zack toward civilization and knows someone else will eventually pick him up, so why does he take the risk and assume the responsibility? The real answer is a cross between the story requires him to and it shows the audience Tyler maintains a good soul, rather deep down, but it’s somewhere in there. Personally, I believe Tyler psychologically needs to be a good brother again, but each of us will read into his choice whatever we choose to.
Once the story morphs into a road movie, well, raft movie, it picks up steam and functions as its best self. Zack and Tyler become friends, develop a bro handshake, invent Zack’s wrestling alter-ego, and look out for each other. Eleanor completes the trio, rather reluctantly, as the script hints and pokes at her backstory with persistent, nebulous allusions to a prestigious university and personal tragedy. Now they can all be sticky together on their Huckleberry Finn raft as one looks forward to wrestling glory and two ponder ways to escape past demons. Professional wrestlers come in two varieties, the hero and the villain. Zack believes villain suits him because of his previous abandonment, but a bit too on the nose script has Tyler convincing him he’s a hero because he is a good guy in real life and co-directors Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz want their film to be uplifting while they coat it with a rough edge.
The road/raft narrative device makes room for what it does best, introduces juicy but brief supporting characters. Zack and Tyler encounter Jasper, a blind, pistol-toting old soul who will just as soon shoot at you as baptize you in the river. There is only one correct response when he inquires if you are God-fearing. There are two revenge-minded fishermen whose purpose is to remind us Tyler and Zack are not alone on the water and better not slow down too much. And for the keen-eyed viewer who paid attention to wrestling back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, a familiar face shows up. I won’t give it away, but he may have thrown slithering reptiles on his defeated foes in the ring. The Peanut Butter Falcon will work for folks who love a good redemption story and Zack Gottsagen is easy to root for, but Shia LaBeouf owns this film. He knows how to play down and out and looks more than comfortable in an old T-shirt so filthy the least bit of friction will catch it on fire. Themes of forgiveness, letting go of the past, and your family are the friends you choose are too overtly laid out in a neat, little line, but you’ll leave with a smile on your face when Zack reminds you of rule number one, “Party!”
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