The Peanut Butter Falcon

THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON - Roadside Attractions

The directorial debut of Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz’s The Peanut Butter Falcon is a captivating and poignant portrayal of both acceptance and identity, compiled into an entertaining and compelling examination of the human condition and one's perception of your fellow neighbours with two wonderful lead performances from Shia LaBeouf and Zack Gottsagen as Tyler and Zak, respectively.

Both performers are exquisite with terrific, engaging chemistry. Each actor evokes a sublime tone and balance of comedic prowess and gravitas of drama that wonderfully orchestrates such a touching and compelling picture. LaBeouf superbly provokes a touching, inwardly-deliberating construction of grief that is eloquently produced just beneath the character’s surface, bringing a momentous amount of charisma to his portrayal of lonely and struggling Tyler — balanced perfectly on-screen with Gottsagen's fabulously indicative performance and wonderfully naive Zak. Gottsagen's character does not shy away from having their own significant amount of thematic weight that the actor superbly crafts and presents.

Dakota Johnson pops up sparingly as nursing home assistant Eleanor but isn't particularly given any form of prowess on paper. Therefore, the actress struggles — to no fault of her own — implementing any presence on screen. Considering the central arc and story of both Tyler and Zak interacting and travelling together being undeniably engaging, it would seem that Johnson's Eleanor might be slightly overkill. However, if anything, Johnson's character reinforces an appropriate and loving amount of heart and soul into Zak's life that undoubtedly adds to the overall conviction of his arc and character.

Helped with a strong edit, from duo Nat Fuller and Kevin Tent, that expertly utilises stirring moments of flashbacks with a profound usage of sound design that pierces the heart of the audience every time these moments are exercised on screen. It is a small and subtle convention that has a colossal amount of impact. It never drowns the feature but stays silent in the background in the same manner grief maintains an extended stay in someone's subconscious — reinforcing the fact that The Peanut Butter Falcon is a tremendous, heartfelt feature from its humble beginnings to profound and sincere finale. A feature so humble, fresh and exhilarating it deserves as much hype and critical acclaim as it can muster.

The Peanut Butter Falcon is released in the U.S. and U.K. August 23, October 18 2019, respectively.