NYFF: "C'mon C'mon"
Wednesday, October 6, 2021 at 9:30AM by Jason Adams
Mike Mills, the maestro of what actually matters, strikes excellence yet again with C'mon C'mon, his latest film screening at NYFF this week. How in the ever-loving world is this only his fourth -- yes you read that right, his fourth! -- feature film? The math don't lie: Thumbsucker, to the grand Beginners, to the masterpiece 20th Century Women, and now C'mon C'mon, and Mills' ability to laser right in on the emotional truth of any and every moment remains unparalleled. Jettisoning all the Joker toxicity from his body, the film stars Joaquin Phoenix, thankfully in his sweet smiling airiest tender boy mode. This is the Joaquin I personally signed up for, whispering his feelings into a telephone with wet eyes. What a heartfelt symphony this whole experience is; a gift..
Phoenix plays Johnny, a freshly single documentarian mourning not just his relationship but also his recently-deceased mother. He's in the middle of traveling the country interviewing kids about how they feel about the future. Reminiscent of the couples-interviews that break up the action in When Harry Met Sally we occasionally see these kids and hear their thoughts on climate change, loneliness, the things that excite and terrify them about growing up. Mills' treats these moments with candor and sweet awe, brushing aside the condescending concept of kids saying "the darndest things" and forcing us to relate to them as equals, with important things to say.
But Johnny's ease speaking with young people and getting them to open up their innermost persons will quickly be challenged -- although never too brusquely; a Mike Mills film has no space for false melodrama. He reconnects with his estranged sister Viv (Gaby Hoffman, and whoever decided to cast Joaquin & Gabby as siblings deserves all of the awards) and her adolescent son Jesse (a truly phenomenal Woody Norman). What exactly happened between the siblings to distance them in the first place is thankfully kept vague -- we know enough, that the death of their mother was a drawn-out ordeal, and that Johnny maybe didn't comprehend Viv's difficult relationship with Jesse's bipolar father Paul (Scoot McNairy, furtively glimpsed but as ever making a mark). Mills trusts we're smart enough to fill in the unspoken specifics.
Viv finds herself sucked into an emergency involving Paul out of town, and so Johnny is suddenly tasked with taking care of his nephew for a couple of days -- those couple roll into a couple more, a couple more, and soon enough the one and a half men are flying the country together, bonding over each other's individual weirdnesses while the melancholic strings and low electronica of the Dressner brothers (two members of the band The National) hum and swell and sweep grandly beside the action.
I bring up the music because, it's gorgeous but also as an aside. If you haven't caught Mill's 2019 short film "I Am Easy To Find" for The National's same-titled last album I recommend, with gusto, that you do. And it relates to this film, because that short's wordless twenty-minute music montage (starring Alicia Vikander) echoes hard across passages seen here and in Mills last couple of features (especially 20th Century Women) as well Mills has really cornered his own brand of emotionally resonant language via these passages. Mixing voiceover with score against a barrage of gentle images where our characters discover joy, intimacy, connection, I could live in one of these montages and never come up for air. They're sublime cinema every time, striking every single chord I am asking to be struck.
I've watched so many films tackle the pandemic head-on over the past year but C'mon C'mon, which never broaches the subject, is the movie I most needed from this moment. It concerns itself solely with emotional reconnection, with the reestablishment of communication after and amid trauma. It just shoves aside all the bullshit and shows us that openness, decency, and empathy will guide us through if we can do the same. The clarity with which Mills and his actors hone in on the most important stuff there is and make their own symphonic music from it is majestic in the sweep of its full-hearted and throated low-key sincerity, and I am genuinely, profoundly thankful for every single frame.
C'mon C'mon opens in theaters on November 19th
Reader Comments (7)
Jason, thank you so much for this sublime piece. I am so excited for this. I consider 20th Century Women to exist in a unique realm of greatness. The fact that the Dessners are attached to this film only make it more compelling. I didn't know anything about the short film you describe, so finding out there is a mini-movie starring Alicia Vikander expressing herself amid a vibe from The National, then I'm right there.
Maybe I can finally forgive Joaquin for Joker. Sigh.
brookesboy -- I am THRILLED to turn somebody new on to "I Am Easy To Find" which I consider a near holy text. The first time I watched it I sobbed so uncontrollably I thought I was going to die. In a good way! It's astonishing and I always take the opportunity to sing its praises when given a chance. I hope you dig it, but if you love 20CW I think you def will.
I am easy to find is so beautiful. Really recommend it.
Excited for C'mon C'mon. As Jason says, Mike Mills tends to nail that one thing that actually matters to us when we watch films.
Jason--I am so excited to find it. Your gonzo description makes it a must-see. The Dressners are so...dayum cool. Thanks again for this great tip!
Inadvertently with Beginners and 20th century women, Mike Mills has revealed himself as a master filmmaker in depicting family relationships with such empathy and warmth. I'm extremely hyped for this and it's gonna be nice to see Joaquin not playing a sociopath for the 89th time (and this coming from someone who likes him, but it's time to diversify a little)
Thinking this can sneak into Picture, Director, and perhaps an acting category or two. Original Screenplay seems likely. Mills is a national treasure.
Thanks Jason.