Laggies

Lynn Shelton, 2014

IMDB

3/5

Laggies is an interesting film because it takes a completely unrealistic and far-fetched premise and puts it in the hand of a capable director in Lynn Shelton. There are so many reasons that a film like this should not be good. We've seen similar movies before, a lead character going through some form of mid-life crisis and buddies up with a young person to try and relive their youth. Big did it well, conversely. Billy Madison showed us the humor in the immature adult spending lots of time with kids in a more slapstick fashion. Lost in Translation artfully showed an unusual relationship between a senior(ish) male and twenty-something female. In tone Laggies could be compared to Crazy Stupid Love in the sense that it's a somewhat chaotic story with a blend of love and friendship between three people that extends to more than three people.

Adulthood seems to hit Megan (Knightley) all at once. She's thrown into a bachelorette party where her career goals are immediately under examination. Flash to the wedding where she is not only under pressure to perform horribly garish tasks for the bride but she is put under pressure by her boyfriend and then close friends. And of course the pressure on her only piles up from there, giving her no choice but to drive away from it all. Of course you are sympathetic for Megan and don't blame her for running away from a situation that would really never happen in real life. Stresses that you are confronted with over the course of a few years suddenly hit Megan in what seems like twenty minutes! That's basically the way the movie goes. A bunch of situations that wouldn't ever really happen, but you somehow remain engaged. This is probably because Laggies makes better decisions than similarly-themed Young Adult by pumping more emotion into the story. Theron's character in Young Adult was selfish and unapologetic, while Megan is charming and innocent. The film just wouldn't have been able to stay interesting without the performances by Knightley, Chloe Grace Moretz and Sam Rockwell. The level of undeniable talent between those three is enough fuel to carry this ridiculous story to the actually-quite-satisfying end.