"When you think about the future, what do you imagine it will be?"
Well this was just lovely.
Radio journalist Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) travels the US asking children about the future. Then he ends up having to look after his nine-year old nephew Jesse (Woody Norman) for a period of time and finds himself facing the challenges of parenthood without any preparation.
This is barely a drama, it's a very gentle film about parenthood and children. It's all about the emotions of the family dynamic, which is somewhat complicated. Jesse's father had bipolar disorder and Johnny and sister Viv's mother died only a year ago. There's all sorts of pain and complicated feelings that Johnny hasn't really dealt with and it's his time with Jesse that makes him deal with these things, though again, it's done in a subtle, gentle way.
Woody Norman is a great find who is excellent as the young Jesse. Jesse is certainly an unusual kid but not in that annoying precocious child actor way. What Mike Mills has done here is give us a child character who is complex, figuring out who he is and learning to understand how he is feeling. The same sense comes from the other kids who appear being interview by Johnny. It's a far more sophisticated take on children than the vast majority of films.
Phoenix is especially good here although one wonders if the chemistry between an adult and a child can really be faked. Certainly Phoenix has spoken in interviews about bonding with young Norman and the closeness of the relationship depicted in this film feels extremely real.
I liked that this film feels very timeless. It's clearly set in the here and now but Johnny is a radio journalist and there's few examples of modern technology- TV and the internet are utterly absent. Making the film in black and white also adds to this effect and makes the film feel like it could have been made at any point since talkie films were invented.
Somehow this manages to be film that feels realistic yet everyone is nice. Every character is likeable but they all face struggles, especially when it comes to dealing with each other. Every character is someone you wouldn't mind hanging out with, which feels especially odd with Phoenix given he generally plays utter bastards.
Moving, gentle, and just generally lovely. More films should be like this.
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