The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)- BFI London Film Festival 2019

Review

97min

Genre:     Adventure, Comedy, Drama

Director:  Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz

Cast:       Zack Gottsagen, Shia LaBeouf, Dakota Johnson…and more

Writers:   Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz

-Synopsis-

Armed with the ambition to break free and the dream of becoming a wrestler, a young man with Down’s Syndrome escapes his care home and embarks on an epic rafting trip through the American South with his new scoundrel buddy and his kind carer, on their way to fulfil a promise and get him to his hero’s wrestling school.

In a now overwhelmingly progressive Hollywood, increasingly driven by the push for greater diversity and representation when it comes to appearance, culture, gender, sexuality and race, it could be argued that disability is the final frontier to conquer. And after decades of able-bodied actors of sound mind portraying an array of characters with learning difficulties and developmental disabilities—occasionally to Oscar-winning effect like Dustin Hoffmann in ‘Rain Man’—debutant writer/directors Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz unearth a charismatic Down Syndrome star and plunge him into a gloriously life-affirming Huckleberry Finn-esque Southern adventure, which could teach many a filmmaker a thing or two about properly pushing the inclusion agenda.

Zack Gottsagen stars as North Carolina orphan ‘Zak’, a young man with Down’s Syndrome living in a retirement home under the care of the dedicated and big-hearted ‘Eleanor’ (Dakota Johnson), spending his days admiring his southern wrestling hero ‘The Salt Water Redneck’ (Thomas Haden Church), and trying to escape. When his elderly roommate ‘Carl’ (Bruce Dern) helps to spring him from their home, and he meets troubled young drifter and fisherman ‘Tyler’ (Shia LaBeouf), Zak forms a partnership which soon co-opts Eleanor into a risky but life-affirming journey down the bayous of the American south, on their way to meet his wrestling hero and make his dreams come true . . . while changing all their lives in the process.

‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’—an eponymous title named after its star’s wrestling alter ego—is really every inch the ridiculous feelgood makeshift adventure you would hope for, often hilarious and occasionally gloriously inappropriate, but always in a sweet good-natured manner, as LaBeouf’s scoundrel teaches Gottsagen’s naive wanderer all the wrong things for all the right reasons, and all in the name of L-I-V-I-N, as McConaughey would say.

Yet it’s is also a truly reflective and poignant cinematic journey and labour of love, and a deeply personal one too. This is an odyssey of overcoming limitations which treats disabled people like the fully-realised individuals they are, written specifically for newcomer Zack Gottsagen and developed around him, after writer/directors Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz spotted his charisma and movie star ambitions at a disability camp acting workshop—and as a result much of his personality, hopes and dreams bleed into the script.

With scant resources and limited time, the filmmakers attack the shoot guerrilla style across the state of Georgia, often on-the-fly and without permits, while occasionally roping-in willing friends and family of the cast and crew to help. Together with cinematographer Nigel Bluck they vividly capture the mighty and muddy vistas of the wetlands which shape and quench the American south, while taking a snapshot of local idiosyncrasies to help deliver a cinematic love letter to its humble, struggling working-class people.

It’s the music however which proves the driving force at the heart of the film, helping to give it a distinct vibrancy and personality. Composer Jonathan Sadoff (The Meddler, Ingrid Goes West) joins forces with musician Zach Dawes (Mini Mansions, The Last Shadow Puppets) plus Gabe Witcher and Noam Pikelny of ‘The Punch Brothers’ to create a glorious fiddle and banjo-heavy country and bluegrass score, blended with tracks from the likes of Sara Watkins and Butch Walker . . . and even a bit of hip hop from Tony K—which when combined with the tone of the film gives us some delightful hillbilly vibes that take us right back to 2000’s ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’.

As much as it’s a physical journey, as well as the personal human one of its protagonist, the charm and style of ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’ is largely defined by the many idiosyncratic faces they meet along the way, and those who play them. And while were treated to a delightful performance by Dakota Johnson as the kind heart of the piece, and more menacing turns by John Hawkes and southern rapper Yelawolf as the antagonists tracking our heroes for their dues—not to mention brief but memorable appearances by Thomas Haden Church and WWF legend Jake “The Snake” Roberts as over-the-hill local Wrestlers—ultimately the film lives or dies by the relationship between its two lead weary wanderers.

Luckily for everyone  the chemistry between Gottsagen and LaBeouf just bursts out of the screen, often in hilariously frank and formative discussions, and occasionally through poignant and supportive reflection, making for an earthy and honest relationship between two kindred spirits—bonded by neglect and tragedy. All of which helps to deliver a hopeful tale of dreamers and a message of not treating disabled people as less than . . . although it certainly ain’t a manual on how to care for the handicapped or developmentally challenged either.

The Bottom Line…

A wandering tale of chasing dreams and conquering limitations, plus a classic American odyssey and cinematic ode to the south, Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz’s debut feature delights, entertains and moves in equal measure, while unearthing a talent which will turbocharge representation on screen, making ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’ a silly and soulful triumph of the heart.

‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’ is out on the 18th of October in the UK, and in US cinemas now.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

In the depression-hit USA of the 1930s, three escaped convicts embark on a journey across the deep American south to retrieve a supposed buried treasure, crossing paths with quirky characters while being confronted by their pasts and getting into even deeper waters, while relentlessly being pursued by the law—in this idiosyncratic southern American take on Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’ from the minds of the Coen Brothers.

Directed by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen and starring George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson among others.

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