Movie Review: Flower (2018)

Flower is directed by Max Winkler (Ceremony) and stars Zoey Deutch, Kathryn Hahn, Adam Scott, Tim Heidecker and Joey Morgan. It premiered at Tribeca Film Festival almost a year ago and was released in American theaters on March 16 of this year. It may be a bit hard to write about this without giving away spoilers. I won't say how it ends. I just feel that I can't talk about the characters without revealing a bit about how screwed up they are. I will try to avoid spoilers that are not in the trailer (see end of post) or in the first third of the movie.

I really knew little about this going in. In fact I never even heard of it until looking at theaters for a movie to see. Director Max Winkler is the son of Henry Winkler (The Fonz from Happy Days). This is only his second film. I usually check Rotten Tomatoes to find a highly rated movie, but nothing looked good. I decided to take a chance on this movie, despite it only having a 54% rating. That's enough to get the green splat that says it's not too good. But I'm going to have to disagree with the critics on this one. It's no Oscar nominee, but it's a pretty good indie flick. Now, I know why it has divided critics. When a movie starts off with a 17-year old girl giving oral sex to a grown man, who happens to be a cop, who pays her for her services, while her friends secretly videotape it...it's going to be quite uncomfortable to write about. And it certainly is uncomfortable to write about. Now I didn't read the reviews before watching it and I only watched half the trailer.

It feels like the director watched Hard Candy, Happiness, River's Edge and Badlands, then decided to make a lighter, more upbeat and fun, but not nearly as good a version of all of the above. That doesn't make it a bad movie. It's like a high school comedy but populated by characters that belonged in the previously mentioned films. These are what one might call “troubled kids.” The problem with such a passive voice term is it transfers the blame from the subject to the object. A better way of putting it is that terrible neglectful absent parents have caused irreparable harm to their children. The two main character are two new step-siblings, 17-year old Erica (Zoey Deutch) and 18-year old Luke (Joey Morgan). Erica's father is in prison for robbing a casino. To raise money for his bail, she is offering blowjobs to adult men, having her friends film the encounters, then blackmailing the men. Luke is an Oxycontin addict who has recently been released from spending a year in rehab. Their newlywed parents think it's a great idea that they become friends and stay out of the parents' way. Surely they will not get into any trouble together! Oh, did I mention that Luke accused a teacher (Adam Scott) of molesting him a few years back? And that the same guy has already been in Erica's target for her next blackmail plan? In true creep fashion, the former teacher has two first names, Will Jordan.

Erica is annoyingly likable. It's really just a great performance by Deutch, playing her as both manipulative and clearly damaged by her upbringing. They live in what once may have been a high-end house, but the inground pool is dirty and covered with leaves. They are maybe just holding on enough to pretend to be middle class. Despite the fact that she uses her sexuality to get what she wants, she is clearly still a child. They plot ways to get back at the adults in their world, hoping that each one deserves what is coming to them. For most of the film, Erica and Luke are often framed together near the bottom of the screen, showing their small size in an adult world. Toward the end, after their actions have real criminal consequences, the camera tightens up on them without as much headroom as seen in earlier shots.

The film is remarkable for turning the focus on a female protagonist with antisocial problems. She draws more penises in her notebook than Jonah Hill's character did in Superbad. In this case, they are souvenirs. I also have to mention that the director/writers appear to have included a line in tribute to River's Edge. I visibly cheered when Erica yelled at her stepdad “you're just here to fuck my mom and eat her food” in what must be a clear reference to Keanu Reeves' classic line.

Alright, I really liked this more than the critics. Yes it's difficult to watch a film about pedophiles but it mostly is alluded to, with the most obvious scene being in the first 5 minutes. If that really makes you uncomfortable, don't watch it. However, it's not anywhere near as difficult as a Todd Solondz film. I give it a B+.