Waves
4/4
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Taylor Russell, Sterling K. Brown, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Lucas Hedges, Alexa Demie
Rated R for Language Throughout, Drug and Alcohol Use, Some Sexual Content and Brief Violence-All Involving Teens
There are two things I picked up from "Waves," the near brilliant new film from writer/director Trey Edward Shults. One is that even if you have all the opportunities and access you could want, things can still spiral out of control. The other is that no matter how good or bad life gets, life still goes on.
"Waves" details the story of an upper class African American family living in Miami, concentrating on their two children. Tyler (Harrison Jr) is a star athlete, has a promising future, a loving girlfriend, and so on. He's the guy that every dad wants his son to be. His sister Emily (Russel) is close to her brother and their parents but unsure of herself or her future. Ronald (Brown) is their father, who is tough but fair, and demands hard work and respect. His wife Catharine (Goldsberry) is not their birth mother, but loves them as if they were.
Like the equally excellent "Parasite," "Waves" is a movie that offers the most rewards for those who know the least about it. This is a movie that follows its characters closely and allows them to follow their own path. Sometimes it leads to great rewards, other times it leads to great tragedy. What is amazing about this movie is that, for all of the emotions it generates, it remains grounded. Nothing that happens to these characters is unbelievable. They could be us. Their problems are fairly common place, but the acting and writing are so strong that the stakes feel higher than anything in the MCU. The strong character identification gives the film its power.
So do the impeccable performances. The stars are Kelvin Harrison Jr and Taylor Russell. Both are climbing the ranks of Hollywood, and this film should elevate their profile if seen by the right people. They each have a difficult tasks. They have to convince the audience that they're normal teenagers who can find themselves in the situations they get into without calling attention to how "normal" they are. Neither strikes a wrong note. The true scene stealer is Sterling K. Brown as their father. He loves them deeply and wants them to succeed, but his intense personality and drive may have consequences that he certainly doesn't anticipate. Renee Elise Goldsberry is also very good as the woman who fierce love transcends her late arrival to their family.
The film's flaws are few. The film is intimate and visually dazzling in ways that are usually only found in passionate indie films, if you know what I mean. But Shults does occasionally try to hard and exhibit brief moments of self-indulgence. However, such instances are minor and easy to overlook. And while it's partly due to the nature of the story, the film's first half is definitely more compelling than the first. And I also think that the film arrives at the ending too easily and with a bit too much sappiness (a poor song choice is partly to blame).
Ultimately these flaws amount to minor quibbles rather than actual criticisms. The film's strengths overwhelm them by a considerable degree. At least to the point where I cannot in good conscience give this anything less than a 4/4. It takes enormous risks and pulls most of them off. This film is not always easy to watch, but the rewards are indisputable.
Note: "Waves" is rated R for, and I quote, "Language Throughout, Drug and Alcohol Use, Some Sexual Content and Brief Violence-All Involving Teens." I am not sure why. There is nothing remotely salacious or gratuitous in this movie. In fact, Shults uses considerable restraint. This is a movie about teenagers. It is about experiences that they go through (hopefully not the most extreme incident though) and how they must learn to see life. The need for love, compassion, communication and forgiveness is central to the film's point and conveyed with heartbreaking clarity in ways that teenagers can relate to. The idea that a movie that so carefully illustrates the life of an affluent American teenager is somehow inappropriate for them to watch reeks of the hypocrisy that is indicative of the MPAA. Clearly, new management has not given the ratings board any more common sense.
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Taylor Russell, Sterling K. Brown, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Lucas Hedges, Alexa Demie
Rated R for Language Throughout, Drug and Alcohol Use, Some Sexual Content and Brief Violence-All Involving Teens
There are two things I picked up from "Waves," the near brilliant new film from writer/director Trey Edward Shults. One is that even if you have all the opportunities and access you could want, things can still spiral out of control. The other is that no matter how good or bad life gets, life still goes on.
"Waves" details the story of an upper class African American family living in Miami, concentrating on their two children. Tyler (Harrison Jr) is a star athlete, has a promising future, a loving girlfriend, and so on. He's the guy that every dad wants his son to be. His sister Emily (Russel) is close to her brother and their parents but unsure of herself or her future. Ronald (Brown) is their father, who is tough but fair, and demands hard work and respect. His wife Catharine (Goldsberry) is not their birth mother, but loves them as if they were.
Like the equally excellent "Parasite," "Waves" is a movie that offers the most rewards for those who know the least about it. This is a movie that follows its characters closely and allows them to follow their own path. Sometimes it leads to great rewards, other times it leads to great tragedy. What is amazing about this movie is that, for all of the emotions it generates, it remains grounded. Nothing that happens to these characters is unbelievable. They could be us. Their problems are fairly common place, but the acting and writing are so strong that the stakes feel higher than anything in the MCU. The strong character identification gives the film its power.
So do the impeccable performances. The stars are Kelvin Harrison Jr and Taylor Russell. Both are climbing the ranks of Hollywood, and this film should elevate their profile if seen by the right people. They each have a difficult tasks. They have to convince the audience that they're normal teenagers who can find themselves in the situations they get into without calling attention to how "normal" they are. Neither strikes a wrong note. The true scene stealer is Sterling K. Brown as their father. He loves them deeply and wants them to succeed, but his intense personality and drive may have consequences that he certainly doesn't anticipate. Renee Elise Goldsberry is also very good as the woman who fierce love transcends her late arrival to their family.
The film's flaws are few. The film is intimate and visually dazzling in ways that are usually only found in passionate indie films, if you know what I mean. But Shults does occasionally try to hard and exhibit brief moments of self-indulgence. However, such instances are minor and easy to overlook. And while it's partly due to the nature of the story, the film's first half is definitely more compelling than the first. And I also think that the film arrives at the ending too easily and with a bit too much sappiness (a poor song choice is partly to blame).
Ultimately these flaws amount to minor quibbles rather than actual criticisms. The film's strengths overwhelm them by a considerable degree. At least to the point where I cannot in good conscience give this anything less than a 4/4. It takes enormous risks and pulls most of them off. This film is not always easy to watch, but the rewards are indisputable.
Note: "Waves" is rated R for, and I quote, "Language Throughout, Drug and Alcohol Use, Some Sexual Content and Brief Violence-All Involving Teens." I am not sure why. There is nothing remotely salacious or gratuitous in this movie. In fact, Shults uses considerable restraint. This is a movie about teenagers. It is about experiences that they go through (hopefully not the most extreme incident though) and how they must learn to see life. The need for love, compassion, communication and forgiveness is central to the film's point and conveyed with heartbreaking clarity in ways that teenagers can relate to. The idea that a movie that so carefully illustrates the life of an affluent American teenager is somehow inappropriate for them to watch reeks of the hypocrisy that is indicative of the MPAA. Clearly, new management has not given the ratings board any more common sense.
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