Flower

'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.

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.

"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.

This is one of the most offbeat and weird movies I have seen in a while, in a good way! It's funny, raunchy, and really unpredictable. It also manages to be sweet(in a kinda weird, but still!), which I didn't think it would.. Not for everyone, but if you are up to seeing something different and aren't easily offended, give it a shot!

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.