Scrapper

This film presents a curious case where numerous individual elements seem mismatched and unlikely to blend well, yet, remarkably, they come together to create a cohesive and compelling whole. The synergy of these components remains somewhat of a mystery to me, but there's no denying that the end result is captivating. A significant part of this success can be attributed to the outstanding acting, which brings a level of authenticity and engagement that elevates the entire experience. In essence, despite its seemingly disparate parts, the film manages to work exceptionally well in a way that is both surprising and gratifying.

You can tell "Scrapper" is heartfelt, and it has what could have been a heart tugging premise if it had been better made. But the movie is anemic and undercooked. It doesn't build out characters enough for you to feel any of the things the movie clearly wants you to be feeling about them.

It also doesn't help that there's not a lot of rooting interest in these people. The dad played by Harrison Dickinson is kind of a jerk, and I think we're supposed to see that he's grown by the time the movie's over and see is reentry into his daughter's life as a good thing. But he remains a jerk, and doesn't grow, and encourages his daughter to steal bikes and get away with assaulting other kids. The happy ending this movie forces on us didn't feel all that happy to me. I've known dead beat dads in real life, and the movie was more convinced than I was that this guy was going to stop being a dead beat.

Grade: C.

SCRAPPER has so much potential but unfortunately quickly falls apart.

What Worked: The characters were authentic and grounded and the acting was strong. Some of the magical realism was done well. There was heart. The way the characters in Georgie's neighborhood and life are explored is creative, as is the use of color. I also appreciated that even though Georgie had a hearing aid, it was just part of her world and never really spoken about. It just was normalised.

What didn't work: The story was trying too hard to pull at your heartstrings and often took itself too seriously. Not much happens, it's slow and repetitive and the whole story could have been told in a 25 minute short film with the same emotional arc. The emotional investment that is established in the prologue is promising but it then you're living in that same space for what feels like a 2hr film (even though it was 84 minutes it felt like it never ended). The script wasn't tight and some plot points were left unanswered.

Overall it's definitely what you would expect a Sundance film to look and feel like (hence why Sundance is becoming more and more irrelevant and tone deaf).

If you wanna watch a great movie about poor white single-parent family, I much prefer THE FLORIDA PROJECT as it was more restrained in its request for your heartstrings and yet manages to tug at them harder. Watching THE FLORIDA PROJECT I was moved to cry, watching SCRAPPER I kept think wow, they're really wanting me to feel this certain way at this moment in the story, when will this be over?

"Georgie" (Lola Campbell) ingeniously manages to hoodwink social services following the death of her mother, and so lives on her own and makes a living running an unique cycle recycling programme with her friend "Ali" (Ali Uzun) that keeps them in ready cash. One afternoon, a guy leaps the back fence and introduces himself as her absentee father "Jason" (Harris Dickinson). She wants nothing to do with him, but he's no quitter and over the next hour or so we see the pair gradually realise what they have been missing in the years they spent apart. There isn't really much jeopardy here but what there is, is chemistry, The young Campbell is hugely charismatic and her mischievous but decent characterisation of a latter day urchin is really quite engaging. It's also one of Dickinson's more characterful efforts too. He doesn't rely on his looks and his musculature - he is also delivering us an enjoyable performance to watch as their relationship evolves - and not always smoothly. The writing offers us a dialogue that comes across as genuine, funny and for a low-ish budget effort this really is well worth a watch. I saw it at the cinema, but I'm not sure you need that - television will do fine.

I watched this on my BFI subscription and, after a couple of minutes, was wondering if it was going to go anywhere other than the artful cinematogrophy. I'm so glad I kept watching because, very soon afterwards, as soon as Georgie and Ali are introduced to us, and as soon as I heard the first lines of script, it was evident that this was special.

What stands out about it? Well, on the surface, the cinematography, acting, script and, of course, direction, is not only individually outstanding but is also cohesive. In the background, the sound, music, production design are all major factors in making this film so special. The colours are incredible.

The script is clever. It's playfully minimal (is that a thing?) with some choice lines. The range of close and wide shots gives the actors a many possibilities to play with, which they do with aplomb.

It's a film about adversity, loss, trust, and love...maybe in that order too.