Kicking and Screaming
d. Noah Baumbach, 1995
Noah Baumbach's wonderful first feature, Kicking and Screaming, holds a distinct place amoungs other independent films from the 90s. It does share certain qualities with movies like Richard Linklater's Slacker and Before Sunrise, but Baumbach seems to be shooting at something completely different. His film centers around the lives of a couple of 20-somethings who can't seem to figure what to do after graduation. One of them, Otis (Charles Jacott), won't leave for graduate school in Milwaukee because of the one hour time difference. Grover (Josh Hamilton) spends his time in a sort of paralysis after his girlfriend Jane (Olivia d'Abo) leaves for Prague. Max (Chris Eigeman, aka Jason Stiles of Gilmore Girls) plays a philosophy major who passes the time doing crosswords and talking about living.
What Baumbach manages to craft out of his conversational passages is a poignant and charming account of the nostalgia of leaving school; the kind of sad reminisces of things one would have complained about as they were happening. Though Baumbach's writing is likely to get the most credit here (or in his most recent film, The Squid and the Whale, for that matter), he is quite a good director. His long tracking shots -- particularly impressive in a scene with Grover and his dad (played by Elliot Gould) -- and fluid camera movement recalls directors like Robert Altman, Woody Allen (who is probably more of an influence on Baumbach's writing), and even Truffaut. In short, this is a vastly underrated film that is not to be missed.
P.S. Is it bad that I kind of feel the same as the the characters in Kicking and Screaming? I'm 16 (as of tomorrow) and junior year of high school just started, so probably.
