20th Century Women (2016): Good (Just Ignore The Hype)

20th Century Women is a dual coming-of-age movie about a confused 15-year-old boy and his bemused mother, both of whom are contemplating a similar question: what does it mean to be (or raise) a good man? The structure is episodic and the screenplay rich with clever dialogue,  featuring some very droll and sometimes profound bon mots, many of which will bring a wry smile or even make you laugh out loud. It is far less likely that you’ll be touched enough to cry.

The film has received raves from early reviews and several Golden Globes and other awards nominations for its writer-director and actresses, garnering superlatives such as “wonderfully rich”, “emotionally piercing”, “delicious”, “poignant”, and “a comedy for the ages.”

For me, 20th Century Women is a bit of a mishmash that never quite comes together, and yet witty, perceptive, entertaining and certainly worth seeing. My advice: ignore the accolades - the less you expect from this movie, the more you are likely to enjoy it.

The IMDB blurb about this film, probably from the picture’s publicist, declares that it’s about “three women who explore love and freedom in Southern California during the late 1970s.” This was written, it would seem, in an effort to give meaning to the title, which itself is somewhat of a misnomer. Yes, there are three ladies involved, representing three different generations (well two and and a half, anyway); and yes, all are in transition, pondering next steps. But who isn’t? In truth, the real protagonists of 20th Century Women are the single mother, Dorothea (Annette Benning), and her only child, Jamie (newcomer Lucas Jade Zumann).

Like a lot of fifteen year olds, Jamie has one foot in childhood while the other is reaching out into the confusing terrain of adulthood. Dorothea, in her early 50s, is somewhat unmoored herself. Her driving ambition, which propels the film's story, is guide Jamie so he will have a more fulfilling life than hers and turn out be a good, decent guy. Jamie would prefer to figure it out for himself.

Dorothea is not a quintessential late 20th century woman. She is a particular individual, quirky in an engaging (and sometimes exasperating) way, bright, curious and freethinking, yet culturally staid in the manner of one who came of age herself in the 1940s. As a mother of a teen, she is, in fact, on the old side. She lives in a lovely, if funky, old home, and has rented out rooms to help make ends meet and also, it would seem, to liven up the place. There is no husband or lover in her life, nor is it clear she wants such.

The other two women in the movie are notable in supporting roles. Abbie (Greta Gerwig), one of the Dorothea’s boarders, is a young artist in her late twenties, with spiky-shaggy, bottle-red hair, a fondness for punk rock bands of the time like Black Flag, an awkwardly earnest Gerwig-ian manner, and a depth of understanding belied by her appearance. The course of her life has not gone as planned; and having suffered serious setbacks, Abbie is trying to regain her footing. Hers is a distinctly modern outlook, which contrasts sharply, if genially, with Dorothea’s.

Then there is Julie (Elle Fanning), Jamie’s closest friend since childhood. Although still best friends,
they are no longer children, which complicates things in a way both amusing and touching. Julie is just a year or two older than Jamie, yet considerably more physically and emotionally mature  in the way most girls are at that age. This is not to say that she has her shit together.  She is sexually active with other boys, maybe even promiscuous, yet unwilling to share herself that way with Jamie because she values his friendship too much. Together with her tendency to crawl through his window at night to cuddle (chastely) with him,  this is excruciating for Jamie and does little to alleviate his adolescent feelings of masculine inadequacy. A constant presence at Dorothea and Jamie's home (her home life sucks), his feelings for her seem almost incestuous.

William (Billy Crudup), a forty-something mechanic, is the other lodger in Dorothea's home. William is a former hippie who has evolved into what, by 1979, would be called a New Age man. I was expecting this guy to represent an archetype for Jamie to emulate, but he’s more like a token - a comic foil for Dorothea and Abbie.

Dorothea worries that Jamie is growing increasingly separate from her, less knowable, less susceptible to her influence. Understanding that this is inevitable and age-appropriate, it still pains her.  She is clearly cluelessness about late 70s youth culture and mores: her idea of popular music is Louis Armstrong, for chrissake! Still, she feels it’s crucially important to steer her son on a path to masculine goodness. How can an out of touch single mother do this? Her brilliant idea is to enlist Abbie and Julie, younger folks with whom Jamie may better relate, to bring him along.  Funny and occasionally instructive circumstances ensue, as both Dorothea and Jamie - and Abbie and Julie, too - learn a bit about themselves and each other.

20th Century Women was written and directed by Mike Mills, and like his earlier feature Beginners (2010), it is autobiographical. Mills has acknowledged his similarity to the character Jamie, he was raised by a community of women (his mom and older sisters), the story is set in the town where Mills grew up (Santa Barbara), and the character of  Dorothea is drawn from his own mother – searching, intelligent, unconventional, manless and bewildered by the new youth culture, or in Mills’ words “very much a fish out of her historical waters.”

It is a better movie overall than Beginners, which featured an exceptional performance by Christopher Plummer, but was otherwise flawed.  20th Century Women, too, leans heavily on the performance of the eldest actor – in this case Annette Benning – with mixed results. Benning’s is a brave performance in a way: she has allowed herself to be portrayed as an oldish, unglamorously plain-looking, somewhat overweight fifty-something mom, not just unhip but remarkably out of touch. In real life, at 58 (about five years older than Dorothea), Benning is chic, trim and attractive. I must say, however, that although Benning is a great thespian and always watchable, with this movie I was always aware I was watching a performer, not a real character. And so I felt no emotional connection – which would have helped.  On the other hand, she gets some of the best lines in the film. 

As to the other cast members: Zumann is credible and holds his own as Jamie, a smart, somewhat nerdy kid, surrounded by females, wanting to assert his masculinity, but unsure just how to do so. Gerwig is strong in her supporting role as Abbie, and Crudup adds warmth as a low ambition guy living day-by-day. Fanning looks the part, but seemed a bit flat as Julie. I have to wonder about her acting chops (or perhaps she was just reflecting Julie’s depressed outlook?).

In my review of Beginners, I said it was “a well-intentioned motion picture with many charms and terrific actors. …  It is entertaining enough, but ultimately [it] is a less than satisfying film, which fails to meet its lofty ambitions.”   20th Century Women is far better. I’d like to think that Mills simply intended a comic, warmhearted, somewhat nostalgic story inspired by his own experience as a boy becoming a man in a female-populated environment, and perhaps a tribute to his mother as well, which is, in fact, what we have got. I’d like to think that the studio hype machine is responsible for the unduly elevated expectations this picture arrives with. The more one tries to make of this movie, the more disappointed one will be. 

The bottom line: 20th Century Women is not an Important movie - just a good one.  With a wealth of keen observations, good performances, and a sincere, affectionate tone there is much to enjoy here.

[As a simplifying aid to readers, starting with this review, I’ll be grading films like a schoolteacher - on an A through F scale]

Grade B+.

20th Century Women opens nationwide on January 20, 2017.