[yasr_overall_rating]
A sexually curious teen forms an unorthodox kinship with her mentally unstable stepbrother.
Max Winkler’s “Flower” has all the hallmarks of a good movie: memorable performances (particularly from Zoey Deutch, the lead), a hip soundtrack, biting dialogue and even some glimpses of a new twist on the whole “coming-of-age” staple. Yet sometimes, films just don’t gel. Whether it happened during the editing process, or the screenwriters weren’t sure on which trajectory to focus, it’s difficult to tell, but “Flower” does not cohere, its good bits serving as teasers of the superior films we never get to see.
Is “Flower” a commentary on misguided feminism? Its protagonist, Erica (Deutsch), sure sees herself as a feminist, as she bribes cops for money after giving them blowjobs and taping it with their friends. She’s very self-aware: yes, she has daddy issues (her father is in jail), yes, she beats up on her classmates and yes, she loves to give head (“I’m extremely gifted,” she says. “A dick is just like a thumb without a fingernail.”) She’s seemingly confident with a turmoil of issues hiding underneath the chirpy exterior.
Is “Flower” a dark tale of adolescence and first love? When her overweight, anxiety-ridden stepbrother Luke (Joey Morgan) gets released from rehab, Erica bonds with him, endeared by his panic attacks and anger management issues. They consequently embark on a quest to frame a potential child molester, Will (Adam Scott), who happens to frequent the same bowling alley as Erica and her rebellious girlfriends. The plan, of course, goes terribly awry, leading to Erica and Luke escaping, “Bonnie and Clyde”-style. From this moment on – let’s say, the last 20 minutes or so – “Flower” gets increasingly more ridiculous, culminating in the line: “I think I love you.”
Is “Flower” a dark satire of suburbia? There are numerous allusions to cult classic satires like Todd Solondz’s “Happiness” and Michael Lehmann’s “Heathers” and Larry Clark’s “Bully.” Some of the characters are caricatures, like Erica’s shrill, desperate mother Laurie (Kathryn Hahn, in her 300th project), recently remarried to another stereotype, Bob (Tim Heidecker), a “loser who collects pinball machines” but also “a good, good person “ – at least compared to her incarcerated ex.
Is “Flower” a slapstick/situational comedy? Erica certainly finds herself in amusing situations, rendered somewhat awkward by their deliberate controversial nature (themes of underage sex, molestation, incest, suicide, and murder are all touched upon lightly). There are a lot of fat jokes that may have landed if they were punchier and in, say, a Coen brothers flick, but then I’m talking about a much different film.
Winkler seems to grasp for different straws to connect them into a sound narrative. He at least aims to explore teenage-hood from a different angle, taking a look at a middle-class family whose values are just a tad askew. It’s clear he has a reservoir of things to say about sexual liberation and gender equality… it’s just not clear what those things are. While certain sequences, most involving exchanges between Erica and either Luke or Will, provide hints of a natural director of actors, the uneasy combination of humor and grimness of the overall film betrays Winkler’s relative inexperience behind the camera. Here’s hoping his career blossoms as opposed to wilting.
In theaters March 16th
