Thanksgiving week gave me an opportunity to catch up on a number of films I had been looking forward to. Better late than never. C’mon C’mon is a wonderfully enriching, often painfully intimate, and heartfelt film that strums its emotional chords with remarkable sincerity.
A radio journalist finds himself in the care of his nephew while his sister attempts to help her bipolar husband. Forced to travel for work, he takes his nephew on the road, and they both have revelations of self-discovery through their shared trauma.
That’s the general premise for Mike Mills’ latest film. Yes, it’s a sort of tried and true “adult learns about life from a kid” but that doesn’t do it justice. It’s really more about these two people finding themselves while existing on opposite ends of the same curve. The gradations and imperceptibility of time at different stages in life. Mills’ character writing is exceptional and richly introspective without being forced. The layers of their family history unfold with honest dialogue, slowly at first. It’s disarming and leaves you unprepared for the moments where the screenplay hits you in the guy with a closed fist. Full disclosure, I cried several times, unexpectedly, and that’s a testament to the structure of Mills’ writing and how well-earned those moments are. It also helps to have some excellent performances to draw all those emotions out of the script.
Joaquin Pheonix is one of those actors who I’m always interested to see what he’s working on and he didn’t disappoint. He really embraces the parts of his character, Johnny, that are the most emotionally raw. There’s a lot of resentment between him and his sister, Viv, over the end of their mother’s life and that cascades into how they both handle the aspect of him taking care of her son. That desire for reconciliation is present but neither of them really know how to broach it and Phoenix wields that apprehension with precision. It’s much less intense than a lot of his other work but the refined subtlety is probably what drew him to the role and he turned in yet another fantastic performance.
Gaby Hoffmann plays Viv and she wears the burden of their relationship in a much different color. Stuck between being a good mom, wanting to be a good sister, and needing to be a good wife, she’s pulled in all those directions and Hoffman makes you feel the pressure of it all. She’s great and so it Scoot McNairy who plays her husband, Paul. He’s sort of in the background and in flashbacks but his performance provides something tangible for all the characters to connect behind.
This was a breakout role for Woddy Norman who plays the nephew, Jesse. At only 11-years-old, he conveys a great deal of depth in his performance. He hit the familiar notes you’d anticipate from a kid his age: the constant questioning, the frenetic energy, and the lack of a filter. However, given the circumstance of his character, there’s a mini existential crisis going on within him and Norman really shines in those moments. There’s one scene where he’s internalizing quite a lot about his home situation and very matter-of-factly verbalizes a well-articulated fear about his father, and it just floored me. He’s got a bright future and you’ll probably see a lot of him during the red-carpet season.
Filming in black & white provides a more classic feel, essentially asking the viewer to remember a simpler time despite the contemporary setting. It’s quite beautiful in that way and Robbie Ryan’s cinematography utilizes grand cityscapes and wide shots to make you feel small in a larger world and then dives in for some intimate closeups to remind you of the humanity in a big world. It’s also paired with sublime original music from Bryce and Aaron Dessner that’s both timeless and futuristic. It reminds you that whether it’s right now, 100 years in the past, or 100 years in the future, the human experience has a universal quality.
This was right there at the top as one of my very favorite movies of 2021. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it get some well-deserved recognition for cinematography, production design, and score. You’ll probably see a push for Phoenix’s name circulating for Best Actor, Mills will likely be in the conversations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, and you could very well see this as a dark horse candidate for Best Picture.
Recommendation: See it for the performances and the excellent filmmaking.
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