Big Time Adolescence (2020) Review!!

Synopsis – A suburban teenager comes of age under the destructive guidance of his best friend, an aimless college dropout.

My Take – While at first glance, this film from debutante writer-director Jason Orley, which premiered at Sundance last year and has now found its release through Hulu, may seem like an indie showcase for SNL goofball Pete Davidson in his first major role, but once you dive deeper, you realize that it instead a heartfelt coming-of-age story about impressionable teenage boys and the imperfect male role models who influence them, making it, like last year’s the Olivia Wilde helmed Booksmart, one of the best thing to happen to teen comedies since John Hughes.

Though it contains Pete Davidson’s distinct brand of humor, the film is filled with enough honest emotion too, which is brought to life by an ensemble of terrific young actors.

Yes, the film hits a few familiar notes as far as coming-of-age films and high school comedies go, but if you ever had a close relationship with an older brother or friend, there might be things about the film that also ring true and strike you as humorous and honest.

The story follows Monroe (Griffin Gluck), who years ago was introduced to Zeke (Pete Davidson), by his older sister, Kate (Emily Arlook), as her boyfriend. Though Kate eventually broke things off with the perpetually immature Zeke, the two continued to remain friends as Monroe came up to look at Zeke as an older-brother surrogate, despite the apprehension of his parents (Jon Cryer and Julia Mumey).

In the present day, Monroe is 16 and Zeke, now 23, is a college dropout who still sometimes sleeps with Kate but also has a girlfriend, Holly (Sydney Sweeney), who has a genuine affection for Monroe and his positive impact on her man. Things begin to get interesting when Monroe’s classmate, Stacey (Thomas Barbusca), suggests Monroe use his connection to Zeke to help supply a high school party with booze to jump into the cool category.

While Zeke is elated with the idea to use his younger friend to sell overpriced weed and other drugs, Monroe is more interested in impressing Sophie (Oona Laurence). However, as faith has it, Zeke’s destructive guidance eventually steers Monroe towards trouble.

Though writer-director Jason Orley treads familiar coming-of-age ground that calls to mind dynamics from most films from the past two decades, his sensitive approach and the commitment of his actors somewhat makes up for the lack of originality. Honestly, there isn’t so much a complete story here as much as there is a series of moments in a transitional time in Monroe and Zeke’s friendship, with Orley’s script walks a thin line between love and hate as we are never really sure about how we feel about Zeke.

Here, director Orley has an insightful way of contrasting how Monroe and Zeke’s relationship, while seemingly innocent on its own, can cause potential issues with the other aspects of Monroe’s life. There is, of course, his family, with his father becoming increasingly concerned about Monroe staying out all day and coming home drunk and stoned. There are also the potential problems at school, where friends and even a potential love interest have difficulty coexisting with Monroe and Zeke’s camaraderie. The more Monroe looks up to Zeke, the more he tries to be like him both in the way he talks and the way he dresses.

But there is no doubt that the friendship is genuine, even if inherently unbalanced. In the sense, Monroe wants to experience adulthood through Zeke, while Zeke is trying to vicariously relive his childhood through Monroe.

Director Orley is also careful to add a humanizing depth to nearly all of his characters, save a handful of underwritten female roles, particularly Holly, who starts out intriguing only to get wrapped up in the film’s weakest through-line. But the film was never set to revolutionize the coming of age genre, but instead set it an example of a good one. It’s smart without being preachy, observant without being overbearing with its messaging.

While the film is not the funny and outrageous film you might expect it to be, in a way it’s smarter than that, taking the familiar coming-of-age comedy drama template and turning into a subtle but affecting meditation on friendship, which is a powerful and meaningful force in our lives even when it stands against our best interests. It understands that being a teenager can be confusing and awkward, but also that this phase of life is temporary, and that adulthood is right around the corner.

As anyone could have guessed, it is Pete Davidson’s performance that keeps us glued to the screen, who proves he can be funny and handle a starring role. He is hilarious, loaded with personality, and exhibits traces of emotional depth in his acting, which marks a change of direction for the comedian who seems to be winging-it through SNL. Griffin Gluck is the glue that holds the film together, as he manages to steals the spotlight from Davidson on more than one occasion with a natural performance of a teenager who realizes that his idol isn’t really what he thought.

Meanwhile, one-time nerdy teen lead Jon Cryer turns in a beautifully understated performance as Mo’s overwhelmed dad, and Colson Baker, a.k.a. rapper Machine Gun Kelly brings in a surprisingly great comedic turn. While Sydney Sweeney, Oona Laurence, Julia Murney, Thomas Barbusca and Emily Arlook are also quite effective in their supporting turns. On the whole, ‘Big Time Adolescence’ is a thoughtful, genuine and immensely likable comedy drama that is far smarter than you might assume it to be.