Grow Up!? – Erwachsen werd' ich später (2014)

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Grow Up!? – Erwachsen werd’ ich später: Directed by Lynn Shelton. With Rocki DuCharme, Sara Lynne Wright, Larissa Schmitz, Phillip Abraham. In the throes of a quarter-life crisis, Megan panics when her boyfriend proposes, then, taking an opportunity to escape for a week, hides out in the home of her new friend, 16-year-old Annika, who lives with her world-weary single dad.

“Just what does it mean to really u0026#39;grow upu0026#39;? As kids, many of us no doubt assumed that maturity and independence would naturally follow once we hit a certain age. But, as most of us have since discovered, that isnu0026#39;t necessarily true: people can easily be adults in age but children in attitude. Laggies, an affable film with quirky indie sensibilities and a great cast, explores these issues with quite a lot of charm and genuine humour, although its odd plotting fails to live up to its characters in the end.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMegan (Keira Knightley) is stuck. Ten years after graduating from high school, her friends have all moved on with their lives and accumulated the accoutrements of adulthood: jobs, husbands, babies. Only Megan remains stalled in permanent adolescence, temping for her dad and living with her doting high-school boyfriend Anthony (Mark Webber). When Anthonyu0026#39;s proposal of marriage forces her to contemplate leaving her commitment-free comfort zone, Megan takes refuge in the home of Annika (Chloe Moretz), a high-school girl who begs Megan for help in buying alcohol. In the course of a week, Megan discovers that thereu0026#39;s more to life than idling in first gear, and draws closer to Annika and her dad, lawyer Craig (Sam Rockwell).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThereu0026#39;s actually quite a lot to enjoy in Laggies, even if its ending is a foregone conclusion. Andrea Seigelu0026#39;s screenplay is sharp and smart, developing her characters into something more than stereotypes. Thereu0026#39;s a gentle, deep undertow of understanding in Meganu0026#39;s budding friendship with Annika – one which brings them both to a bittersweet meeting with Bethany (Gretchen Mol), the mom who abandoned Annika for a new career as a lingerie model. As played tenderly by Knightley and Rockwell, the way in which Megan is drawn towards Craig also makes sense, even if their connection feels a little forced.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe performances are also top-notch. Knightley delivers one of her most fascinating creations yet: a woman who has drifted through rather than lived her life for years, not daring to sever ties to her past but afraid to forge into the future. Her Megan is spiky and sweet, appealing even when the characteru0026#39;s flaws threaten to overwhelm. Rockwellu0026#39;s part is a bit undercooked, but heu0026#39;s such a great actor that he lends Craigu0026#39;s attraction to Megan all the credibility denied it by the script. Moretz, too, is great as always, slipping into the troubled skin of Annika and creating another lost girl with plenty of spunk.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhere Laggies falters is in its final act. The last third of the film has a few great moments, including a heartrending encounter between Megan and Anthony that shouldnu0026#39;t work as well as it does. But it also degenerates steadily into cliché, abandoning much of its offbeat humour and complex characters for twists both odd (Meganu0026#39;s reaction to a car accident begs the question: is that really how a grown-up should respond to the situation?) and predictable (Meganu0026#39;s epiphany is a textbook rom-com moment).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn effect, Laggies stops growing, just as Megan did for ten years of her life. At the end, it provides easy answers for its characters after spending most of its running time suggesting that there are no such things: that the real world is complicated and people arenu0026#39;t perfect, that growing up takes effort and doesnu0026#39;t happen by default. This doesnu0026#39;t mean that the film isnu0026#39;t watchable – it very much is, and will reward viewers with some truly lovely moments of wry humour and quirky characterisation along the way. But its undeniable charm is also what makes Laggiesu0026#39; ending all the more disappointing.”

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