C'mon C'mon is a black-and-white drama about radio producer Johnny(Joaquin Phoenix) who agrees to take care of his nephew Jesse(Woody Norman) while his sister Viv(Gaby Hoffmann) attempts to help her estranged husband Paul(Scoot McNairy) who struggles with mental illness.
Phoenix is more relaxed and less mannered than some of his more recent credits, which is refreshing, he's charming and low key and effective, he's got great chemistry with Norman who also gives a believable if somewhat gratingly precocious performance(although that is mainly a result of the script). Hoffmann is in a class unto herself, as she always is, absolutely magnetic and entirely comfortable on screen. McNairy doesn't actually have lines and the character, unfortunately, is utilized mainly as a plot device. But all-in-all the three leads are all quite real and charming if hamstrung by the scripts lack of addressing the privilege afforded by the characters obvious class.
Shot in a lush black-and-white with a melodic fluid score, the production design is beautiful and understated the weaves pitch perfect with the performances. The issue, which may not be an issue for some, is with the script and it's sheen of upper-middle class white obtuseness. The film asks us to be interested in these relatively small problems of these characters that are insulated by their socio-economic position. And that position is never addressed, not that it needs to be necessarily, but the unspoken tone and implication of the film is that these are regular people which they most assuredly are not. That's the disconnect. Whether this is a detriment to viewers or not is the question, for me it most definitely was, but even so there is a certain heart-warming easy twee charm to the film that's undeniable even while the same quality prevents it from reaching any real emotional height.
A breezy relatively benign emotional drama if left uninterrogated.
Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.
Stream It.
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