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After winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in “Joker,” Joaquin Phoenix is back, and he’s something his characters almost never are: conventional.

Phoenix plays Johnny, a radio journalist working on a piece to chronicle the youth of America, set in the present day. Trekking through the U.S., he brings his microphone and recording system to various cities, interviewing kids on their anxieties due to the current political and environmental climate.

“C’mon C’mon” is the latest A24 film from writer and director Mike Mills, whose last two pictures — “Beginners” and “20th Century Women” — served audiences constant over-sentimentality. This film uses emotional scenes to entrance the audience, which critics and fans alike consider to be Mill’s forte.

The film goes through highs and lows of emotions, from painfully sad to resoundingly happy, but the audience leaves with a renewed sense of living life to the fullest.

When Johnny receives a call from his sister, Viv, he’s asked to watch her son, Jesse, for a few days. Viv has to take care of Jesse’s father, who is bipolar. This allows the uncle and nephew duo to set out together to finish Johnny’s project.

On their excursion — which goes from Los Angeles to New York City to New Orleans — both Johnny and Jesse learn to honestly show their emotions, from love to fear. Brilliantly subtle, it’s an extremely adorable and fulfilling film about humanity’s place in time.

“To me, this is a post-2016 film,” Mills said at a New York Film Festival Q&A. “This film was written at the start of Trump times, and our thoughts and placements with that moment.”

Mills plays with the themes that’ve bathed his previous “anti-Hollywood” family dramas, such as change, identity and the transformative journeys of tension-filled characters. While the film encapsulates the hostile political Trump-era, it still feels harmonious with the film’s familial themes.

An extremely coherent character in comparison to his previous “Joker,” Phoenix elegantly defines his compassionate side with his role as Johnny. Adding to the humor and realistic characterizations is Gaby Hoffmann, who plays the role of Johnny’s sister, Viv.

Phoenix’s character stays true to Mills’ writing — troubled in a minimalistic sense. Viewers are told only partial bits of his past and present, and he seems unbothered by his flaws and mistakes from earlier in his life, such as his previous love interests or his strained relationship with Viv.

Johnny’s distant communication with Viv served as a sort of mystery throughout the film, amplified perfectly through the incredible cinematography by Robbie Ryan. Shot in black and white, everything feels like a dreamlike silhouette, a naturalistic fantasy of Johnny and Jesse which almost acts as a fairytale. With Johnny’s radio show as a backdrop, the film’s documentary feel is perfectly contrasted with the delicate visuals.

Hoffman is honest and spectacular in this film. Viv goes through the load of caring for each and every character, pragmatic and progressive through the stress of motherhood. Gaby’s performance is a true commemoration as to why mothers and motherly figures deserve the highest praise, and Viv is without a doubt this film’s dark horse and most valuable character.

Woody Norman, who plays Jesse, was only nine years old while filming. The British actor gives one of the best child performances in years — let alone pulling off an impeccable American accent — as Jesse’s wondrous curiosity asks all the questions you would never expect from children.

Mills’ spectacular dialogue and Jesse’s exchanges between every character in the film operate as a step toward the character’s maturation, projecting honest vulnerability in Norman’s portrayal.

Mills constructs another love letter to the familial experience in “C’mon C’mon.” The film shows what it means to accept the incredibly difficult nuance of life itself, and its viewing experience couldn’t be more motivating, tender and cozily poignant. Audiences will enjoy this picture, not only for its on-screen compassion but its post-screening thoughts on humanity that stay with viewers long after the film ends.

Published on October 14, 2021 at 12:17 am