Mid90s (2018)

Review

85min

Genre:       Drama

Director:    Jonah Hill

Cast:         Sunny Suljic, Na-kel Smith, Lucas Hedges…and more

Writer:      Jonah Hill

-Synopsis-

It ain’t easy to figure out who you are or want to be at thirteen, but for L.A. teen ‘Stevie’ life is about to get eventful in his mid 90s summer, as he balances a troubled home life with his days as the newest member of a spirited street skating group—as actor-turned-director Jonah Hill gives us his 1990s California skater kid take on the classic coming-of-age drama.

When Hill made his ultra charismatic leading man breakthrough in 2007’s unforgettable high school comedy ‘Superbad’, we could have perhaps predicted his eventual transition into Oscar-nominated fare like ‘Moneyball’ and ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’, but we would never have foreseen such a quick evolution into a writer/director of nuanced drama.

Yet after directing a couple of music videos and graduating from the unofficial school of working with master filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Bennett Miller and The Coen Brothers—plus taking inspiration from gritty 90s indie dramas like ‘Kids’, and even more from Shane Meadows’ ‘This Is England’—the thirty-something L.A. native turns fully-fledged filmmaker to give us his very personal, skating and hip-hop fuelled period take on the teen coming-of-age drama, and an indie parable about being knocked down by life and getting back up.

Sunny Suljic stars as young Angeleno Stevie, struggling with growing up alongside his abusive older brother ‘Ian’ (Lucas Hedges) and single mom ‘Dabney’ (Katherine Waterston), while navigating the minefield of new teendom, only to unexpectedly find belonging with a boisterous group of older local skateboarders. Now dubbed ‘sunburn’ by his new crew—freshman ‘Ruben’ (Gio Galicia), dim cameraman ‘Fourth Grade’ (Ryder McLaughlin), impulsive wildcard ‘Fuckshit’ (Olan Prenatt), and the group’s skatemaster come de facto leader ‘Ray’ (Na-kel Smith)—Stevie finally comes into his own in a grownup world, as the group dynamics shift and the young newcomer proves his mettle . . . time and again.

Set in the 90s and loosely reflecting some of the writer/director’s own childhood experiences, there’s no doubt that Jonah Hill’s debut harks back to another, not long-forgotten generation. The film showcases the video games, threads and tunes which defined the era for some, while featuring a funky soundtrack of hip-hop and alternative music as the heart of the piece, and blending it with a melodic and whimsical synth score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network, Gone Girl). But unlike many a film of the last five years, ‘Mid90s’ is not driven by nostalgia, instead paying homage to and using the street-skating, hip-hop-loving subculture of the time to tell a timeless tale of the yearning to belong, and the struggles of growing up in working-class urban America.

‘Mi90s’ deliberately feels like a typical skateboarding video of the time but in reverse, where the focus is on the people and relationships behind the skating, and Hill does his utmost to make the film look like it’s a homemade piece from the 90s—shot on economic 16mm film and featuring a classic oldschool 1.33:1 aspect ratio rarely seen in modern film . . . even indies. When combined with the brief runtime, the film achieves a natural look and feel which often seems like captured home footage of real youngsters doing their thing, and not actors . . . much like the films which so inspired it.

As a dysfunctional family drama and ensemble character piece, ‘Mi90s’ is built entirely around the efficacy of its small cast, with the newcomers playing the skaters turning in wonderfully naturalistic performances, balanced by relative veterans Lucas Hedges as the insecure bully older brother, who can only communicate with violence and derision, and Katherine Waterston as the dedicated single mom with a wild past. But they’re all admirably led by a nuanced and emotive, yet restrained and mature performance from Sunny Suljic, who after impressing in ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ has established himself as a dramatic leading-man at the tender age of thirteen.

Being an accurate representation of rowdy, streetwise working-class teens of the 90s, the film features plenty of flippant non-pc language and behaviour—which remains accurate today (just do a quick YouTube search)—and as such Hill has unsurprisingly received criticism from some quarters about his choices being offensive and romanticising now socially unacceptable behaviour. But all that just feeds into the bizarre, intellectually and artistically dishonest notion that the world as it was, and is, should only be depicted through the sanitising filter of what it should be, thus avoiding the risk of causing offence or normalising behaviour which is in fact (or has been) normal—thereby designating artistic expression as a tool for social engineering above all else.

Yet in spite of some triggering language and the celebration of brotherhood in the midst of so-called ‘toxic masculinity’, ‘Mid90s’ doesn’t have the edge of some of the films actually made in the 90s which influenced it—particularly the work of Larry Clark and Harmony Korine. Hill only ever flirts with true dramatic grit, ultimately more interested in creating a reverential homage to the sub-culture he depicts, and not interested in the anarchic darker side of skate culture—which another YouTube search session would readily reveal—which often gives skateboarding a bad name.

Despite the few moments of genuine poignancy, ‘Mid90s’ is slightly lacking in true emotional gravitas or edge, and it proves limited when it comes to the drama really moving you, with the few moments designed to shock feeling out of place and forced, while on the other side it isn’t that comedically inclined. Yet there is merit in the film’s subtlety and restraint, and it ultimately manages to balance out a touching little human drama with plenty of heart and ‘joie de vivre’—delivering a timeless and transcendent message of brotherhood, belonging, and taking life’s knocks on the chin, while admirably kick-starting Jonah Hill’s directorial career.

The Bottom Line…

A period-set yet timeless indie coming-of-age drama with as much heart and vigour as its protagonist, ‘Mid90s’ nostalgically plunges you into a 90s sub-culture with restraint and reverence, while weaving together a poignant family drama and tale of brotherhood with a strong and simple message—signalling an auspicious start for Jonah Hill’s career as a fully-fledged filmmaker.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

This is England (2006)

Struggling with personal loss and finding his place in the working-class Midlands of the early 1980s, a spirited twelve-year-old English lad finds acceptance with a group of older skinheads, only to have the group dynamic and his life upended by the return from prison of the group’s more radical and unstable senior member.

Directed by Shane Meadows and starring Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham and Jo Hartley among others.

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