Trophy Kids

Chris Bell, 2013

IMDB

3/5

We have all probably been the uncomfortable witnesses to that parent at the middle school sporting event. The one that is way too invested in whats really supposed to be an innocent exhibition match for young people to learn the fundamentals of athletic competition. But there is that very small percentage of parents that have way too much emotion invested. Trophy Kids is their story. Or at least the story of four different parents in four different sports. Golf, Basketball, Tennis and Football to be exact. Chris Bell, documentary filmmaker been known for 2008's Bigger Stronger Faster, directed this film that really puts you uncomfortably close to these overbearing parents. Bell eases his way into it as well. At first you might consider the parents to not be so bad, you can see the passion but nothing too outrageous yet. But the layers of the onion are unpeeled, and by the end of the film you don't really have any good feelings about any of them.

The documentary focuses on four parents in four different sports. Golf, basketball, tennis and football. Each parents has their own disciplinary style. 3/4 are very aggressive and verbally demanding, classic authoritarian. The fourth (tennis mom) is more new agey, spiritual, more subtle. But they are all striving for one singular goal: for their kids to become superstar athletes like Tiger Woods or the Williams sisters.

This is clearly an environment built on a foundation of unreasonable expectations. These poor kids are missing out on basic kid stuff; playing with their friends or having girlfriends or boyfriends. Instead, they are forced to train for long hours. You are undoubtedly witnessing child abuse. Long, calculated, child abuse. These parents are despicable. They are narcissistic. They should be ashamed. Hopefully they will be. Hopefully they will look back on this film years from now and completely regret all of the unreasonable things that they said to their poor children. Its another film where you are impressed with the access and the unfiltered nature of it. Why would they be okay with this film being released portraying them in this light? It's this factor that makes this film a success. That Bell managed to be present with his cameras, and was able to capture this behavior in a natural setting. With natural emotions laid out. 

Happy Christmas

Joe Swanberg, 2014

Can I Stream it?

3/5

Young and not-so-responsible Jenny (Anna Kendrick) moves in with her older brother (played by Swanberg), his wife Kelly (Melanie Lynskey) and their two year old son in their small home in Chicago and disrupts their quite peaceful life.

Happy Christmas is a bold effort by mumblecore director Swanberg who once again employs Kendrick in entirely improvised story. Much of the film is set in the Chicago home, ironically decorated in 1950's nostalgia from the kitchen cabinetry to the basement wooden wall paneling. Shot on 16mm, there is a deliberate grittiness to the picture and saturation to the lighting. The constant view of Christmas lights pops, glowing warmly. The film has some very authentic-feeling moments. When Jenny and her friend Carson (Lena Dunham) start pressing Kelly on some of the personal sacrifices she has made as a stay-at-home mom, everything about it feels pure. Blossoming feelings with Kendrick and her new friend in his apartment. The exchanges between her and her brother in the basement, listening to music and smoking pot. The one-too-many drinking nights and the lack of judgement associated with them. Swanberg puts some real faith in Kendrick, and it really pays off. She brings more to her Jenny character than she was able to deliver in her previous collaboration with Swanberg in 2012's Drinking Buddies. Ironically, here she is actually acting out of type. She's usually the goodie-two-shoes innocent type. But here she is an capricious self-serving twenty-something, lacking direction and discipline in her life. She either has found some more comfort with working with Swanberg, or the change in character dynamics gave her more to play off of, or both. Either way, the final result of Swanberg's holiday experiment is small but rich in realness and honesty. It decides to invest much of it's time into real scenarios rather than provide back-story and character development.

The Other F Word

Andrea Blaugrund Nevins, 2011

Can I Stream It?

2/5

This documentary provides a look at middle-aged punk rockers as they explore their own fatherhood, struggling with maintaining their rebellious personas while trying to be good parents.

The film presents the irony of watching an eff-authority punk-rocker hit middle age, but doesn't pack a whole lot of calories doing so and ends up serving you a mixed message. Unorganized. Confused. Lacking. Crude at times without substance. Are we watching middle-aged rebels struggle with inevitability or are we watching a Pennywise reunion tour? The doc is swerving all over the road all-while playing the songs we've grown to hate. Some scenes are just downright irritating. Everclear's Art Alexakis, who has managed to get more mileage out of three top 20 hits than anyone in the 1990s, sits in a room playing "Father of Mine" with an aged voice that isn't anywhere near the quality it was twenty years ago. His involvement in the film is also puzzling in a sense (not to take away from any of the trauma he actually has experienced) because he is not really known as the rebellious punk type.

But to cut the film some slack, there are some redeeming qualities. Jim Lindberg (of Pennywise) provides some honesty, some insight to the struggle of aging, displaying an urge to put his touring life behind him and dedicate his life to his family. He probably opens up more than the other subjects of the film. Flea also really shows some true vulnerability when he tears up gushing about his daughter. This is what you want from the film, a real unprotected side. But you just get too much filler and not a whole lot of consistency. If you come looking for laughs, you will at least get a couple of those. Seeing a 40 year old Rob Chaos stand in his kitchen unwilling to let go of his spiky hair. Mark Hoppus (Blink 182) talk about his reluctance to purchase censored music for his kids. But the F Word is disappointing because its an enticing premise that is just not explored properly. All the makings of a mediocre documentary.