Flower

"Flower" (2017 release; 93 min.) brings the story of Erica and her family and friends. As the movie opens, Erica and two friends expose and blackmail a cop who accepted a blowjob from Erica, a 17 yr. old minor. We then get to know Erica's mom, with whom Erica is close, and her mom's boyfriend Bob, whose 18 yr. old son Luke is being released from rehab and moves in as well. Luke claims that years ago he was molested by his teacher Will, and when they run into Will at the bowling alley, they decide that justice needs to be served. Did Will molest Luke? What becomes of Erica and Luke? At this point we're 15 min, into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to eee for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the feature length debut of co-writer and director Max Winker, best known for his TV work. Here he brings the tale of a rebellious and well-meaning 17 yr. old girl who manages to get herself into trouble time and again. The movie benefits tremendously from Joey Deutch's acting talents, but alas the movie suffers visibly from a lack of focus. I mean, this is really three movies in one, as the focus shift and one movie becomes another one, before it becomes yet another movie again. By the end, the story has become utterly improbable and, frankly, preposterous. And that's a shame, as there are some good elements in the movie. But it is clear that Zoey Deutch's acting talents surpass the movie by a mile or two, There are some great songs in the movie, including a very nice cover of "Daydream" (the 1969 hit single of the Belgian band the Wallace Collection) by a guy I've never heard of before.

"Flower" premiered a year ago at the Tribeca Film Festival, and finally opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this past weekend, No idea why it has taken so long to get a theatrical release, but better late then never I suppose. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended poorly (4 people in total, including myself), and given that this movie won't benefit from strong word-of-mouth, this will not be playing long in theaters. In the end, "Flower' is notable only to see Zoey Deutch, but I encourage you to check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

A film I wouldn't have ever known about had I not been a film buff. Went in not knowing anything at all, which is actually a good thing. I'd like to do that more often just to have a clean slate and no expectations. I've got to say Zoey Deutch has never impressed me in any role. Either through the film sucking or her just not being spectacular she never shined. Finally, I can rate her in a role. Its not much different or completely out of left field for her but its a fine tuned performance. While the film is not perfect, and is let down at some moments its a good film.

The film is about a carefree high school girl who meets her future step brother. Her step brother comes out of rehab and seems to have a dark-ish past. A few events lead to the reveal that her future step brother had previously been molested by an older teacher. Thus begins the mission of Erica (Deutch) to coax the man and also get revenge on him for the past wrongdoings that he has committed. The film also stars Kathryn Hahn and Adam Scott.

As mentioned earlier Deutch is good in this. She is an at times grating character, so basically a typically teenager. Her performance is somewhat mesmerizing and has a bit of tragic happiness to it. The film is shot quit nicely and also seems to tackle a lot of issues that are tackled in teenage films often (orientation, sexuality, innocence, growing up love etc.). While I never found the film to be overly funny, I found it very entertaining until the last ten minutes.

I think there was a good chance to go for a remarkable finish to a very solid film that was really flubbed up by the mess of a reveal and end. It doesn't take too much away from an interesting product, but yes it could have been better. I still had fun with it. Its obscene but at the same time obscenely entertaining. This one isn't going to be making any waves, but if you're like me and like to see quality film I'd suggest checking this out. Its not smart, or profound but its a purely entertaining escape.

6.5/10

Zoey Duetch is delightful I really like her energy! I don't understand the hate Flower got, the humor is great and story is solid. Kinda weird in some aspects like how the main character is obsessed with innuendo/crude things and how the plot is about catching predators. The music is magnificent, quite ambient with peculiar vibes!

The concept here was very unsettling. I mean, I was a teenage girl not long ago but still...very unsettling. I think every single one of the actors did a great job playing their parts, but overall the movie was just...cringe.

My advice is go to this movie for the first 30 minutes to see the stellar performances and then immediately leave and don't look back and whatever you do don't stay for the last 20 minutes. This movie is a horribly written film school mess with a clear dissonance between all creative components. Great acting, a seemingly decent director who /tried/ their best but with a script that feels like it structured through mad libs not even they could save it.