The Peanut Butter Falcon
REVIEW BY: ROBERT CHANDLER
THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON is a 2019 film about an illegal fisherman-thief, Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), and a young man with Down's syndrome, Zak (Zack Gottsagen), who go on the run together in North Carolina, heading down to Florida to find a hero of Zak's, an ex-pro wrestler named the Saltwater Redneck (Thomas Hayden Church). They are pursued by Eleanor (Dakota Johnson) from the residential home, from which Zak escaped (aided by Bruce Dern!), and by two low-life swamp fisherman, from whom Tyler has been stealing, Duncan and Ratboy.
The directing style by its writer-directors, Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, looks unfussy but is actually immaculate, in that it consistently uses the frame to tell its story visually (this is rarer than you might think). You could watch the film with the sound switched off and still know precisely what is happening.
Performances are excellent. Shia LaBeouf continues to be a courageous and outstanding actor, breaking free of the shackles of the ghastly TRANSFORMERS and the awful CRYSTAL SKULL, pushing himself into grimy, gritty roles, where he is able to lose himself in a character without it feeling indulgent. See also David Ayers' tank movie, FURY, where he appears alongside Jon Bernthal, who shows up in PEANUT BUTTER FALCON as Tyler's brother; and Andrea Arnold's exceptional AMERICAN HONEY. Zack Gottsagen is a find; ably filling the screen and commanding the attention. Thomas Hayden Church is remarkable, still acting with his eyes and that hangdog face, playing the character perfectly. The sadness and the experience of the character and the actor are all brought to bear on the scene where the runaways turn up at his shack in Florida.
The film is much like Tyler in that it doesn't condescend to Zak and his differences. Tyler treats Zak as he would any another person. I have an interest in the portrayal of characters with Down's as I am setting up a feature film starring two leads with Down's syndrome. THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON gets things just right.
There is a lovely echo of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer running through the movie when, at one point, the characters make their way downstream on a makeshift raft. If there is a downside, it's that the storyline with the two men on the run, the possibility of romance between Tyler and Eleanor, and the pursuit by the two different forces, one after Zak, one after Tyler, are all familiar tropes. But this can be ignored in favour of the excellent visual storytelling and the performances, and the strength of the bond formed between Zak and Tyler within the film.
THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON was written for the screen after the writer-directors met Zack at a camp for actors with disabilities. This is their first feature film. What a way to make an entrance!
Available now to view on Amazon Prime.
