C’mon C’mon

(USA / 2021 / Directed by Mike Mills)

SHOWTIMES DECEMBER 13 - 16:

Joaquin Phoenix’s first role since his Oscar-winning performance in Joker couldn’t be more diametrically opposed. In C’mon C’mon, he plays an introspective radio journalist who’s touring the country interviewing youth in grade school about their hopes, dreams, and expectations for the future. When his project brings him to L.A., he visits his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffman) and his nephew Jesse (Woody Norman). Viv’s husband’s health is failing, and when she has to leave for a few days to help him, Johnny volunteers to stay with her son.

He’s not used to being around children in a caregiving role, and at first he has no idea what to do with the exceptionally bright kid. But with his sister’s help, he begins to understand his nephew’s moods and feelings, as well as to experience what it means to be a parent despite not having children of his own.  

Going into C’mon C’mon, you may think you know exactly what it’s going to be – a simple story about two people whose time together changes them both. But what happens on screen is far from simple. It’s filmmaking so rich, it captures life in a way that few movies bottle it. The cast has chemistry throughout, dancing together around Mills’ script as it unearths immense queries about children and adults: How do we honor our kids’ individuality? How can we acknowledge them as members of society, just as important and worthy as their adult counterparts? How do we hear them, and how do we prepare them for a future in which we will be absent? Coming out of the cinema, you’ll realize you’ve experienced a million feelings that you weren’t expecting. And that right there is the magic of the film.

R / 1 hr 48 mins.