I watched this title knowing almost nothing about it other than I liked the two leads from the Showtime series, the United States of Tara. The setup is a well worn path, Keir Gilchrist plays Michael Peck, a 104lb Freshman invisible to his parents and those at school save for a small circle of friends.
Through a chance encounter he befriends Emily (Brie Larson), an attractive and popular senior at his school. They bond through their subsurface similarities, both are intelligent and posses a sharp tongue matched with a darkly funny evaluation of suburban life. But each are neglected by their parents, Peck's parents are overbearing and deaf to their sons concerns whilst Emily's just aren't there.
The two areas where this film just doesn't work are in the production values, this is obviously an independent film but unfortunately it sometimes looks like they stole set pieces from a direct to cable Disney film. The other let down is the direction, it is beyond flat. No style, no consistency in tone or the effort to create one, in retrospect it looks like they got their director from a Disney set as well.
The real saving grace is in a surprisingly good script, still let down with some strange turns and the performances. Gilchrist and Larson do seem to be following a reasonably close path to their turns in United States of Tara but in this film they're allowed the time to develop a successful character arc that not only works, but works well. Both turn in tender and genuine performances, and by the end Brie Larson particularly, really proves she has the acting chops to be taken seriously as a professional.
Whilst it has its flaws, Just Peck survives it's technical limitations through the talent of the cast and some originality and great laughs buried in an otherwise clichéd story.
7/10
Through a chance encounter he befriends Emily (Brie Larson), an attractive and popular senior at his school. They bond through their subsurface similarities, both are intelligent and posses a sharp tongue matched with a darkly funny evaluation of suburban life. But each are neglected by their parents, Peck's parents are overbearing and deaf to their sons concerns whilst Emily's just aren't there.
The two areas where this film just doesn't work are in the production values, this is obviously an independent film but unfortunately it sometimes looks like they stole set pieces from a direct to cable Disney film. The other let down is the direction, it is beyond flat. No style, no consistency in tone or the effort to create one, in retrospect it looks like they got their director from a Disney set as well.
The real saving grace is in a surprisingly good script, still let down with some strange turns and the performances. Gilchrist and Larson do seem to be following a reasonably close path to their turns in United States of Tara but in this film they're allowed the time to develop a successful character arc that not only works, but works well. Both turn in tender and genuine performances, and by the end Brie Larson particularly, really proves she has the acting chops to be taken seriously as a professional.
Whilst it has its flaws, Just Peck survives it's technical limitations through the talent of the cast and some originality and great laughs buried in an otherwise clichéd story.
7/10
