FIVE FEET APART

Haley Lu Richardson     Cole Sprouse     Moises Arias     Kimberly Hebert Gregory

     Although not groundbreaking (c.f., Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, The Fault in our Stars, and Miss You Already and many others through the years), Five Feet Apart can be seen as an engaging story that is uplifting despite sad and disappointing turns of events. Director Justin Baldoni clearly knows of what he speaks (presumably from past experience) in a film about teenagers, the restrictions placed upon them by an illness (cystic fibrosis or CF), and how personality, past experience, and connections with others are all in play.

     The normalcy in this film about illness involves its two main characters, Stella (Richardson) and Will (Sprouse), who are polar opposites in personality and outlook on life finding common ground as they fall madly in love with one another. Each is good for the other. Stella’s self-described “OCD”, commitment to treatment, and a rosy outlook on life are juxtaposed against Will’s acerbic outlook and casualness toward treatment that frequently pushes boundaries.  They both have cystic fibrosis (and you will learn much about the disease in seeing the movie), which requires frequent hospitalizations, daily treatment regimens, and the proscription of contact with another person with CF; that is, they can have physical contact with family and friends, just not with fellow patients.

     The entertainment comes from the push-pull of the two developing real appreciation and caring for the other.  The dialog (writers, Nikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis) is both snappy and thoughtful while maintaining a reality base so that it doesn’t sound morbid or like something written for stand-up comedy.  This includes the fussiness of Nurse Barbara (Gregory) as she tries to keep the slightly rebellious teens in tow after getting “burned” once before (“Not again on my watch”, she proclaims), interactions among the CF patients, and messages from the medical staff to families.  

     Different kinds of guilt become a running theme woven into the main story.  Stella suffers from “not being there” at the right time for her sister.  Barbara feels guilty about loosening restrictions on two previous patients. One CF patient expressed distress about the burden of his illness being placed on his family.  In the course of the story, these troubles are sensitively addressed.  This is another example of how the film moves beyond the “death and dying” issue to deal with everyday concerns.

     One drawback of the film is toward the end when the filmmakers tease and pull the rug out from under the viewer.  Just how many last-second saves should be in any script?  But above all, Five Feet Apart demonstrates the importance of physical touch to all of us.  Not only is abstinence a strain when expressing delight, but it’s crushing in moments of grief.  We see how much Stella’s and Will’s minds and eyes have to make up for the absence of even the slightest physical connection.

     Haley Lu Richardson (Support the Girls, Columbus, The Edge of Seventeen) clearly lives up to her acting promise in portraying a complex teenager with major challenges behind and ahead of her.  Cole Sprouse, whose claim to fame rests primarily on the TV series, “Riverdale” in which he plays a lead role, shows a range of emotional sensitivities and ease with his character in this production that should prove his dramatic talent.  Essential to the success of this drama is Poe, expertly played by Moises Arias.  He is an important third in the Stella/Will drama in his contrast with Stella and Will and in his tempering/uniting their differences.

     Musicians Brian Tyler and Breton Vivian composed a wonderfully provocative score that captures and enhances so well the varying moods of Five Feet Apart.  

Ignore its potentially saddening subject; Five Feet Apart is an uplifting and inspiring film.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN

Hailee Steinfeld     Blake Jenner     Kyra Sedgwick     Woody Harrelson     Haley Lu Richardson     Hayden Szeto     Alexander Calvert    

          The Edge of Seventeen put my nerves on edge, partly because I’m a psychologist.  [If ever a group of people needed therapy, this family does, but—unrealistically—it’s never mentioned to any of them.]  Secondly, I’m bothered by so many of the current films meant for teens glorifying or minimizing the bad effects of alcohol.  When the protagonist here, Nadine (Steinfeld), drinks so much she’s hanging over the toilet the next morning with her friend mopping her brow, I’m curious about what the filmmakers’ intend and what adolescent viewers will think of it.  Are they likely to admire it or get the impression that “everybody does it” or “no big deal”?  Might filmmakers come up with better ways to rebel and protest as models for young people?  (Yes, I know it’s not about that; it’s about the money to be made in making people laugh, even if what they laugh at is inappropriate.) 

       Nadine has a hard life for someone in her circle (middle/upper class suburban), primarily because she is annoying.  She is not an “easy” child in her rebelliousness—physical manifestations in her younger years and sarcastic, put-down remarks in her teens.  Grade school is torture until she finds one friend, Krista (Richardson), who appears to be the only one (besides her father) who is nice to her.  The film can be credited for its portrayal of a mother who might spawn such a child, Mona (Sedgwick), who idolizes her older son Darian (Jenner) and always regards Nadine as less than, or worse.

        When a family tragedy occurs, Mona increasingly turns to Darian, and Nadine becomes more and more of a problem.  Nadine ups the ante to force her mother to pay attention to her, becoming more and more distressed and acting out, while desperately seeking help from other sources.  But when her best friend Krista begins taking up with Nadine’s brother Darian, she loses the only real support she has ever known (besides her father, who is no longer available), not because of Krista rejecting Nadine, but the anticipation of Krista rejecting her.

         The comedy in The Edge of Seventeen is in the people she turns to for help.  One is her teacher, a wry Mr. Bruner (Harrelson), who has some of the funniest come-back lines in response to a range of her tragedies (loss of father, suicide thoughts, miss-sent text) and her bombastic accusations.  The best thing for her (and the movie) is that he is never shocked by what she says, but responds in a way that makes us laugh and bewilders her.  Only Harrelson could pull this off in the way that he did—quintessential Harrelson.

     Another person Nadine turns to is a shy classmate, Erwin (Szeto), whom she underestimates and devalues (partly because he seems to like her) until the end when she can be truly impressed.  Their interchanges are realistic for shy kids their age, and constitute some of the most genuine and comedic portrayals in the film. 

         Unfortunately, there is someone else Nadine turns to, a crush she has on someone she doesn’t really know, Nick (Calvert).  She accidently sends him an erotic text, which he surprises her by responding to, and they go out on a date that doesn’t turn out well.

        Steinfield does an expert job in playing an annoying, difficult child with self-esteem problems, and her gradual painful transformation into a more mature person is nuanced.  Kudos to veterans Harrelson and Sedgwick; it’s always gratifying to see talent and experience at work.  Szeto’s Erwin could be considered a break-out performance in his portrayal of a kind of nerdy, artistic character still naïve, but with tons of talent.

        The Edge of Seventeen is a debut film for writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig.  It’s a good start, but I hope she will become more thoughtful of the social/psychological messages she sends in her films, and go beyond simply pleasing an audience that may not be very discriminating.  She appears to be sensitive to human dilemmas and experiences, and could become more mindful of creative means of overcoming them.  She presents rich psychological material in the characters, but these are not resolved in a realistic way.

        In addition to the problems with this film mentioned in the first paragraph, I cannot figure out why filmmakers cast older actors to play teenagers.  Steinfield was 19 when the film was made—which isn’t so bad—but the other teen actors ranged in age from 20-30 years old.  If there weren’t talent in the age range of the film, I could understand, but there are; so why don’t filmmakers cast them?  It’s simply ludicrous to expect us to imagine a 17 year-old in a 30 year-old body.

A film about teenagers probably not for teenagers.

Grade:  C                                   By Donna R. Copeland