I originally didn’t plan to see Peanut Butter Falcon. I was planning out some upcoming cinema trips and sure this one seemed okay, but in the same week “Monos” and “The Last Black Man In San Francisco” were having a small-scale release, this was kicked down the chain. Come Friday evening. I’m in the car home with mum, preparing for a weekend in Portsmouth and discussing this film I’d seen advertised while sat on the train which I thought she’d have liked to see. Immediately she was sold and agreed to travel to Southampton (*cough* 0-9 *cough*) for an 11:00AM Saturday morning screening. Immediately, I was worried. When you recommend a film, lest one you haven’t seen, your reputation as a recommend-er is put on the line, especially if the concept excites the other person. When we came out of the cinema, I asked mum what she thought of the film? Her reply: “Probably my favourite film I’ve ever seen. The film felt like it was made for me” and you know what: I enjoyed it to.

Peanut Butter Falcon sees a young man called Zak (Zack Gottsagen) who has down syndrome stuck in a retirement home. He has nowhere to go and nobody to look after him, but what he does have is a dream. Zak loves his video of wrestling. He watches it multiple times a day and his hero is the Salt Water Redneck. His dream is to escape, go to the Redneck’s wrestling school and become a professional wrestler. Despite being mistreated by lots of people, he is so full of hope and one day makes his great escape. He hides on a boat and when Tyler (Shia LaBeouf) makes a get away after destroying some gangsters’ crab cages he finds Zak hiding. Tyler is mourning the death of his brother and needs a fresh start and decides to escape his trouble in Florida. Zak’s wrestling school is in North Carolina, on the way and Tyler agrees to team up with him and get him to the school once he realises home worker Elanor (Dakota Johnson).

The journey is charming as Tyler treats Zak like a brother, teaching him to shoot, swim and train to be a wrestler. This is interchanged with frank conversations about Zak being told what he can’t do and the struggles he has had. The charisma that LeBeouf and Gottsagen have is wonderful. Their characters have the connection and the dialogue is quirky and charming. As a comedy, it really is funny. The humour feels really sweet as you are laughing with Zak. As the jokes are placed in the most positive moments, you laugh with a genuine delight as these characters progress in a loving way. When Zak says his wrestler name will be the Peanut Butter Falcon and smears peanut butter on his face as war paint, alongside the ever enthusiastic Tyler it’s a beautiful and humorous moment of liberation of which the film has plenty.

The whole film is a predictable cliché. Tyler lets down his hardened exterior to be vulnerable. Zak finds himself and is able to live as he wishes. Elanor finds that she is too restrictive to Zak and needs to allow him to flourish. You aren’t going to be shocked during this feel-good movie. You can predict the rest of it, but that’s not to the film’s detriment. It tries to be a fun buddy exploration story which will make you laugh and cry and it does exactly that. The tense moments usually feel limited in their sense of danger as you go along on an easy ride. You love these characters, feel their highs and their lows.

Atmospherically, the film is wonderful. Out in the rural coast, the green, yellow and blue colour pallet is wonderfully natural and the lighting brings across a purity. The banjo country music and the heavy accents help build a beautiful world you wish so much to be true. They add to this brilliant world you want to be part of, a world of hope where we all look out for each other and are the best we can be.

I eluded to it earlier, but as well as having a great bond, Gottsagen, LeBeouf and Johnson are each individually wonderful. Shia has grown up from his Transformers days to bring a top level performance and Gottsagen, a man who has down syndrome, steals the show with a passionate and authentic performance with some top level comic timing and brilliant integrity, leading to my favourite double act of the year (Sorry Viggo and Mahershala). This is a wonderful example of diversity on the big screen. Every actor is in this film for the love of it and you see that passion and respect come through.

Summary

Peanut Butter Falcon is a typical predictable buddy up film between a gritty man on the run and an underdog dreamer, who in this instance has down syndrome. While it follows every cliché in the book, it executes them so well and leads to an infectious, beautiful and smart gem which is guaranteed to make you both laugh and cry. [Grade: A-]

I don’t care that much for award winners, but I really hope Gottsagen is recognised around that season. Then it will be rule #1: PARTY