Josh Bell
In this week’s low-profile VOD releases, teens go to extreme lengths for love, a determined criminal tracks down his loot, and a serial killer takes up pottery.
Driver’s Ed (VOD and select theaters May 15): In the break-up of the filmmaking Farrelly brothers, Bobby has kept a much lower profile than his Oscar-winning sibling Peter. His third solo directing effort is a modest teen comedy with none of the gross-out hallmarks of early Farrelly hits. Instead, it follows in the tradition of movies like The Breakfast Club, bringing together a group of disparate teens for a shared experience of learning and bonding. Freaked out about the prospect of losing his girlfriend now that she’s away at college, high school senior Jeremy (Sam Nivola) hijacks a driver’s education car so that he can show up on campus to surprise her. Out of solidarity and/or boredom, the three other students in the vehicle opt to join him on the journey of self-discovery and mild hijinks. The humor is gentle and basic, with rote wackiness from comedy ringers Kumail Nanjiani and Molly Shannon. It’s a pleasant but forgettable coming-of-age story — and still a better road-trip movie from a Farrelly brother than Green Book. Grade: B-
The Midway Point (VOD May 19): Opening with onscreen statistics about Autism Spectrum Disorder doesn’t do much to make writer-director Lucca Vieira’s debut feature feel less like an Afterschool Special. Vieira himself was only 20 when making the movie, which might account for some of the simplistic immaturity in the cloying teen romance between awkward loner Jake (Sean Ryan Fox) and one-dimensional free spirit Alice (Catharine Daddario). No one ever uses any variation on the word autism to describe Jake, who’s often lost in his own world of art and film, and he has the kind of mental illness that can be conveniently alleviated by the love of a gorgeous young woman. Although Vieira makes a token acknowledgement of Alice’s own struggles with depression, her interior life is virtually nonexistent, serving only to prop up Jake so he can recognize his self-worth and improve his math grades. Vieira relies on sun-dappled montages over honest introspection, doing a disservice to all of the complex, genuine people he encapsulates in that opening title card. Grade: C
Reckless (VOD May 22): B-movie action mainstay Scott Adkins is great at punching dudes in the face, but he’s not exactly a brilliant comedic actor. The strained attempts at humor hamper this otherwise solid revenge thriller, which tries way too hard to emulate a freewheeling Guy Ritchie crime caper. That includes casting Ritchie favorite Vinnie Jones as the gangster nemesis to Adkins’ upstanding thief, who spent five years in prison after being set up by his associates following an armored-car robbery. Following his release, Adkins’ Devon just wants to collect what he’s owed, but ruthless kingpin Trent (Jones) sends various henchmen to oppose him. At his first stop, Devon helps feisty bookkeeper Kimber (Nicole Deon) fend off a would-be rapist, and she becomes his reluctant sidekick when Trent targets her, too. Director Elliott Montello inserts various cutesy animated montages, and the screenplay has an unfortunate fixation on stale prison-rape jokes. When the movie calms down and lets Adkins do what he does best, though, it’s a welcome reminder of his justifiably in-demand talents. Grade: B-
Sick Puppy (VOD and select theaters May 22): Writer-director Jay Reid immediately sets the tone for this pitch-black horror comedy by opening with vet tech Charlie (Natasha Calis) preparing a small dog for euthanasia. Anyone who can laugh at the juxtaposition between Charlie’s sunny demeanor and her grim task will find plenty of humor in her even grimmer efforts to cover up for her serial-killer husband John (Brett Geddes). The only thing that really bothers Charlie about John’s unsavory hobby is when he skips watching 90 Day Fiancé with her to spend time in his torture dungeon, but she’s still pleased when he says he’s going to channel his aggression into pottery instead. Trying to keep him on track sends Charlie down an increasingly destructive path, and Reid gleefully mixes brutal violence with kinky sex and deadpan absurdism. The story gets so twisted that Reid has trouble figuring out how to end it, but by that point he’s already turned some of the most depraved acts imaginable into a satisfyingly sick joke. Grade: B+
I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol (VOD May 26): Early in this documentary about original Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock, Matlock’s bandmate Steve Jones grumbles that everyone involved has told all of these anecdotes numerous times, and he’s not wrong. Still, directors Nick Mead and Andre Relis find a fresher angle by focusing on the Pete Best of the Sex Pistols, even if Matlock’s story largely parallels those of his more famous collaborators. The documentary’s biggest missed opportunity is its minimal focus on Matlock’s post-Pistols career, even leaving out his participation in multiple Sex Pistols reunions beginning in the 1990s. Instead, it amiably rehashes the early days of punk rock, with an impressive lineup of genre luminaries, all of whom praise Matlock’s musical abilities and grounded personality. Matlock himself is upbeat and gregarious, and some of the best material involves him touring the now-gentrified London locations where he lived and performed during the rough-and-tumble 1970s. There’s nothing new here for diehard fans, but it’s a sufficiently breezy overview led by an unsung pioneer. Grade: B
