Flower

Greetings again from the darkness. Despite being early in her career, actress Zoey Deutch has often been the highlight of her film projects. Although that sounds like a good thing, in her case it speaks not just to her talent, but also the quality of those choices. Her father is director Howard Deutch and her mother is Lea Thompson, so her industry bloodlines run deep. Her eyes and smile are truly luminescent on the big screen, where she comes across as a natural. It's now time for her take control of her career. Muck like this latest make us question whether she is a next level talent.

Director Max Winkler (son of Henry "The Fonz" Winkler) co-wrote the script with Matt Spicer (a terrific INGRID GOES WEST) and Alex McAuley, and they are fortunate to have such talent as Ms. Deutch, Kathryn Hahn and Adam Scott. A profane, voyeuristic exercise in disturbed behavior becomes something nearly watchable when these three and newcomer Joey Morgan are on screen.

Ms. Deutch plays Erica, a motor-mouthed (in more ways than one) force of nature teenager whose 'BJ's for Dad's bail' involves seducing older men and then extorting money from them after Erica's posse catches them on camera. Oh, and she keeps a sketch book of her victims ... no, not their faces. The fundraising approach to springing her dad from jail is difficult to accept, but Deutch sells it as best she can. Her mother (Kathryn Hahn) is desperately trying to build a relationship with Bob (Tim Heidecker), whose son Luke (Joey Morgan) is being released after a lengthy rehab stint for pills.

Luke is a hefty young man who finds solace in food and little else. He and Erica could keep multiple therapists busy for years. His problems are exacerbated by an improper school incident involving Will Gordon, a teacher played by Adam Scott. Coincidentally, this same teacher has been labeled "Old Hot Guy" by Erica and her friends at the bowling alley. Once she learns about Luke's history with the pedophile, Erica plots an evil revenge. You can probably imagine where it goes from there.

Those same eyes and smile mentioned in my first paragraph even light up when Erica describes herself as "the d*** whisperer". It's this kind of moment that finds us hoping Ms. Deutch and her agent quickly learn to distinguish between edgy indie project and trashy script not likely to lead to more work. This is an uncomfortable movie to watch, but not in the way where we walk out feeling enlightened. The title does deserve applause because even the scratchiest and toughest flower has a delicate side.

I feel like Erica was quite a peculiar teenager, but it is understandable considering the fact that she didn't have a father and her mother was always in need of boyfriends. What weirded me out the most was how Erica's sex life started where it shouldn't have. I also hated the easy way she could talk about blackmail. She only realised the seriousness of her actions when her freedom was in question. But, I did have a love-hate relationship with her. I liked her for her strenght of character and the way she didn't care what people thought of her, but I didn't like the fact that that made her do illegal things.

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!

"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.

'FLOWER': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

An indie comedy-drama about a troubled teenage girl who bonds with her mentally unstable step-brother, and helps him stalk a teacher that he says sexually assaulted him years earlier. The film stars Zoey Deutch, Joey Morgan, Kathryn Hahn, Tim Heidecker and Adam Scott. It was directed by Max Winkler, and it was written by Alex McAulay, Matt Spicer and Winkler (the script was on the Black List of the best unproduced screenplays in 2012). It's received mixed to negative reviews from critics, and it got a limited indie theatrical release at the Box Office. I enjoyed most of it.

A troubled and very sexually active teen, named Erica (Deutch), forms a unique friendship with her potential step-brother, Luke (Morgan). She finds out that he claims he was sexually abused, years earlier, by a frequent bowler at the bowling alley her and her friends hangout at, named Will (Scott). Erica and her friends then devise a plan to get revenge on Will, for what he did to Luke, and hopefully prevent him from doing it to anyone else. Things don't go as planned though, and Erica and Luke quickly find themselves in a lot of trouble.

The first two acts of the movie are really interesting and involving, and I actually cared about the characters and was intrigued by where the story was taking them. Then the final act of the film gets kind of cheesy and totally unrealistic. The conclusion is just too satisfying, and it doesn't seem true to the rest of the movie (in my opinion). I really like everything leading up to it though, especially Deutch in the lead (she gives a really strong performance in it). I also really like the supporting cast; Hahn, Scott and Heidecker are all really talented and totally likable actors. I just wish the movie had a different (better) ending.