Twain-esque fairy tale strains credulity, but yields some rewards
Your enjoyment of The Peanut Butter Falcon will depend largely on your ability to suspend disbelief and wholeheartedly embrace its fairy tale quality. If you can do that, you’re in for a sweet, feel-good treat, but, if, like me, you’re too cynical to ignore its myriad of coincidences and convenient plot turns, you may find yourself distanced from the story, unable to completely immerse yourself in its picaresque adventure.
The picture won the Audience Award at this year’s South by Southwest Festival, so apparently I may be in the minority here. Granted, there is much to like in the film, the first feature from documentary filmmakers Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, who share writing and directing credits. Nilson uses his North Carolina Outer Banks upbringing as inspiration for the film, which follows a down-on-his luck crabber also named Tyler (Shia LaBeouf). Tyler’s been raiding crab traps from Duncan (John Hawkes, a great talent in a small role), and Duncan is none too pleased, demanding payback from Tyler in either cash or flesh. In true Mark Twain style, Tyler decides it’s prime time to light out for the territories, as it were. With Duncan hot on his trail, Tyler takes off through North Carolina’s swampy bayous and marshlands, intent on reaching Florida to start fresh.
Tyler’s plan is complicated when he unexpectedly meets Zak (newcomer Zack Gottsagen), a Down syndrome young man also on the run. Zak, a ward of the state, has fled his care facility in pursuit of his dream of attending a wrestling school he’s obsessed with. Initially reluctant to have a traveling companion, Tyler eventually softens and lets Zak accompany him on the journey south, but only, he stresses to Zak, because they’re going the same way. Travelling on foot as well as on a make-shift raft, in true Huck and Jim style, the pair bond and develop a special connection and mutual respect despite their differences. Nilson and Schwartz seem to relish the Twain parallels; at one point, Tyler even asks a character if she likes Mark Twain. That “she” is Eleanor (Dakota Johnson), the nursing home staffer tasked with finding Zak and returning him safely, before the state gets wind of the escape and causes a headache for Eleanor’s smarmy supervisor (Lee Spencer).
That Eleanor will find Zak (and, by default, Tyler) goes without saying; what happens when she does stretches credulity, but certainly allows for more adventures and more quirky characters to be introduced. The film’s ending, too, may leave some viewers scratching their heads, wondering how anything that’s happened — or may happen after the credits roll — is possible, but, again, if you don’t think too hard and just accept the fairy tale, you may enjoy the ride.
Much of that enjoyment is due to the chemistry among the actors, as their strong performances help make some of the plot flaws forgivable. LaBeouf creates a complicated character in Tyler, a man whose past mistakes haunt him, and whose gruff exterior belies real compassion and empathy. He’s matched well with Johnson, although her character is the weakest written, as Eleanor’s motivations seem to change on a dime. And Thomas Haden Church has a nice turn as Clint, AKA The Salt Water Redneck, Zak’s hero and favorite wrestler, and the proprietor of the school Zak longs to attend.
But the real stand out here is Gottsagen, a Down’s actor whose comedic timing and dramatic range are on par with, if not better than, actors who have been in the business for years. There are some moments, however, that make you wonder if the film is treating Zak with enough respect. As much as the film champions the autonomy of the differently-abled (Tyler calls out Eleanor’s over-protectiveness with Zak more than once), there’s a long stretch where Zak is wearing nothing but underwear, while all the other characters are fully clothed. While this lack of attire does have a narrative explanation, it begs the question of whether we’re meant to laugh with Zak, or at him? All I know is that when he finally gets some shorts and a t-shirt to wear, my uneasiness dissipated.
Ultimately, though, The Peanut Butter Falcon’s message of inclusion, acceptance, and openness give it enough heart to rank it with any classic fairy tale, and it certainly exudes the magical tone of that genre. And with their pluck, resourcefulness, and kindness, Tyler, Zak, and Eleanor are characters who do Twain proud.
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The Peanut Butter Falcon opens today at Bay Area theaters.
