James is a mass of contradictions. He’s fiercely loyal to his friends and family, but also terribly unreliable. He’s struggling to get his life under control, while also recklessly embracing his most self-destructive tendencies. He realizes what’s expected of him from others—especially from his ailing mother (Cynthia Nixon), whom he loves dearly and who is battling an aggressive form of cancer—even as he avoids accepting responsibility for himself. It’s an emotionally precarious lifestyle, and despite moments of dark levity, it’s one that even James knows can’t last forever. Something has to change. In his debut film as a writer/director, Josh Mond, who has been a producer on acclaimed indies like Martha Marcy May Marlene and Afterschool, paints a striking portrait of a young man lost and lashing out at the world with a visual style that focuses full force on his remarkable cast. Christopher Abbott endows James’ desperation with a heartbreaking vulnerability in a fierce performance that is matched note for note by Nixon’s as James’ harshest critic and most stalwart defender, his mother.
November 13, 2015
Rated: R
Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott 'Kid Cudi' Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, Ron Livingston
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