The Peanut Butter Falcon - Review

The Peanut Butter Falcon

“The Peanut Butter Falcon” tells the story of Zak (Zack Gottsagen), a young man with Down syndrome, who runs away from a residential nursing home to follow his dream of attending the professional wrestling school of his idol, The Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church). A strange turn of events pairs him on the road with Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), a small time outlaw on the run, who becomes Zak's unlikely coach and ally. Together they wind through deltas, elude capture, drink whisky, find God, catch fish, and convince Eleanor (Dakota Johnson), a kind nursing home employee charged with Zak's return, to join them on their journey.

REVIEW:  I have been hearing so much about this film since its fame - buzz grew from early press coverage during its January 2019 Sundance Film Festival debut. And with an abundance in sentimentality, sweetness and charm and a running time of 1:36 minutes the film takes you on equal parts fantasy and equal parts soft drama journey about the basic principle of the power of kindness from one person to another. And it executes this basic tale through the lens of it being a modern Mark Twain style adventure story where we see principally three misfits’ characters drawn together by the rarest of circumstances but through their comradery and friendship develop a symbiotic bond that becomes unshakeable while rafting on the water.

With solid work all around, I would be short changing my comments if I do not mention the lead Shia LaBeouf who has evolved from being a passing supporting style character in Hollywood films to now a full fledged commanding presence;............, literally holding your attention with his natural ability to be any nuance virtue you can imagine. But in the end it’s the whole story of this character friendship that takes root in your mind and heart. “The Peanut Butter Falcon” is undeniably natural, pure and innocently sweet and at times a bit corny with many more times very soft heartedly funny.

Obviously, I won’t tell you what the title means or how it ends, but I think unintentionally the director may have an even better film story to work with when you see the finale. I think there is a lot more to be told about these three characters in the same bucket full of love interaction with one another.

This is a small film but while small it still has a big heart that it wears throughout on its cinematic sleeve. And while there is not a whole lot of depth of material and character development in the story you will still derive an abundance of joy having watched it as moves its tale on the calms North Carolina waters in its down-home folksy way.

3.75 Stars