True Adolescents (2009)

True Adolescents: Directed by Craig Johnson. With Mark Duplass, Bret Loehr, Carr Thompson, Melissa Leo. Craig Johnson’s poised and poignant first feature follows Sam (Mark Duplass), an, unbeknownst to him, washed-up rocker in the early stages of haggard. Jobless and apartment-less, he crashes with his aunt (a compassionate Melissa Leo) as a last resort and becomes reluctant camping-trip chaperone to her teenage son and a pal. That the three males are on par, maturity-wise, makes for engaging ensemble juvenilia. But in the stirring Pacific Northwest wilderness a surprising discovery turns dire — and the distance from boy to man must be covered overnight. Duplass’s ballsy and at times balls-out performance is a winner, particularly when Sam at long last takes stock of himself: it ain’t pretty.

“I liked Mark Duplass quite a lot in u0026quot;Humpday,u0026quot; and there are several moments in u0026quot;True Adolescentsu0026quot; when you get a glimpse of what a good actor he has it in him to be. But what also struck me about his performance in this coming-of-age story was how unlikable he can be when paired with the wrong material.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHe plays an immature musician, drifting through life and pissing off just about anyone who might be willing to tolerate him, until, bottomed out and crashing in his auntu0026#39;s house, he agrees to take her son and his best friend on a camping expedition when the kidu0026#39;s father bails on him (for what, we are to understand, is the umpteenth time). While on that trip, something happens between the two teenagers that jeopardizes, and perhaps with dangerous results, their trip and forces Duplass into the role of adult, a role for which he is not overly suited.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWeu0026#39;re supposed to think Duplass is a loser, and I suppose weu0026#39;re even supposed to get impatient with him, but I also think weu0026#39;re meant to find him funny and charming, and I just didnu0026#39;t. Some people have a knack for being snide and sarcastic while still being winning, and some donu0026#39;t. Guess which camp Duplass falls in for me? My viewing experience of u0026quot;True Adolescentsu0026quot; wasnu0026#39;t at all helped by the fact that the Netflix streaming version I saw screwed up somewhere toward the end so that the picture and the soundtrack were operating entirely independently of one another, so maybe itu0026#39;s not fair of me to judge the film too harshly.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe cast includes Melissa Leo as Duplassu0026#39;s aunt, and makes me start to wonder if Leo, an actress I usually like very much, has decided that her best career move is to appear in absolutely any movie someone offers to her.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGrade: B-“