FilmSnobReviews

Title: Laggies
MPAA Rating: 
Director: Lynn Shelton
Starring: Keira Knightley, Sam Rockwell, Chloe Grace-Moretz
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

What It Is: Megan (Knightley) is having a quarter life crisis. She sees her friends getting married and having kids, figuring out their careers and enjoying where they are, and where they are going. Meanwhile she’s still sitting on her dads couch watching TV, and hanging out with her photographer boyfriends (played by Mark Webber). Life seems to be cruising by her without her noticing. That is until she meets young Annika (Grace-Moretz) who shows her life through a different filter. Part of that life is Annika’s lawyer dad Craig (Rockwell) who is a divorce lawyer who himself seems to be looking at life following a divorce from his wife, and Annika’s mother (played by Gretchen Mol).

What We Think: What Shelton does with the idea of a quarter life crisis is interesting but unexplored, nevertheless this is uncharted turf for a majority of bindie (bigger indie) films. Often big cinema stays transfixed with the problems of middle life or childhood. Shelton, and stories like this are often reserved for mumblecore films. The performances are okay, and Knightley and Rockwell stand out, but there’s something missing in the story. A sort of void that Shelton missed out on that hurts the film as a whole. There’s some unfinished and undercooked developments here however overall the film has it’s whimsy in the right place.   

Our Grade: B, When a film features the words “Music by Ben Gibbard” you’ve got my attention. It’s unlucky that the film around it just misses being a truly great film and instead is a fair to midland story that never fully reaches it potential.