I was never quite sure what to make of it all when I heard that Hulu had acquired a Pete Davidson-led, coming-of-age comedy called Big Time Adolescence but from the first trailer a few weeks back, I was sold. And thankfully, this film actually succeeded my expectations with the kind of emotion it could bring out of me. While most coming-of-age films are marked by certain characteristics such as a tragic realization of truth or a rocky relationship with parents, not many focus on the almost unspoken bond and strange adoration that many young kids form with people who are obviously bad influences. This film is able to portray that beautifully and although not everything ends up working out for this cast of characters, the development of their story together and the exploration of how casually bad influences can transform people was fascinating. Even though this film follows every beat of the genre, it was held together by Jason Orley's tight direction and made even more interesting with a surprising performance from Davidson.
Mo (Griffin Gluck) has looked up to Zeke (Pete Davidson) his entire life, ever since he dated his older sister Kate (Emily Arlook) and has always had a close friendship with him. After being friends for so long of a time, Mo decides to start selling Zeke's drugs and booze at his school parties while being careful not to get caught. Their relationship is tested, however, when Mo's loss of childhood begins to interfere with Zeke's fears of growing up. The defining aspect of this film that made it so memorable to me personally was the relationship between Mo and Zeke. Jason Orley's script and direction are incredible and made this movie feel very personal but altered with a bit of a modern touch. It felt so genuine to the point that perhaps Orley had someone in his own life that he looked up to who got him in a lot of trouble or even the other way around. Regardless, he was able to develop the relationship between Mo and Zeke incredibly well and their changing dynamic throughout the movie kept me so engaged. Mo's battle with enjoying his time hanging out with older people and acting mature vs. his fear of missing out on being a goofy kid was so interesting and made his character incredibly relatable. Zeke's influence on Mo was obviously a bit reckless but the way that he genuinely cared about him was at least endearing to see.
A filmmaker can only do so much with a 91-minute runtime but Orley was able to create such a rich world with these wonderful characters and their intertwining lives with ease. This also has to do with the perfect casting and performances all around, which shocked me just as much as they might you. Pete Davidson is absolutely stellar in this film and his performance all around is something that is so interesting for me to explore. On one hand, Davidson is not a great actor by any stretch of the imagination but he has become so ingrained in our current culture as the "druggie loser" archetype that he has a certain character model under his belt ready to completely nail at a moment's notice. That is what I adored the most about his casting: he never tried to give off an overly dramatic performance or ever tried to change people's minds about him. He seems content with where he is now and even though many people disagree with his lifestyle choices, I'm glad he is able to find such success doing what he does. I would much rather see a bad performance from Davidson in which he is true to himself rather than a decent performance pretending to be someone he's not. He is a special kind of actor in that regard and I have nothing but respect for the roles he chooses and the comedy he pursues. Griffin Gluck was also fantastic in this film as Mo and while he might be considered our next white boy of the month, he smashed this role. Jon Cryer is also surprisingly good in his role as Reuben, Mo's dad, and Euphoria's Sydney Sweeney steals every scene she occupies. She is an absolutely entrancing actress that definitely deserves her own spotlight in a leading role sometime soon.
One thing that audiences seem to forget, especially in comedies, is how these films are made. Bad cinematography or jarring editing in a dramatic film tends to be incredibly obvious because of how sensitive audiences are to engaging with the story. However, comedy is never given that same attention because of audiences' reliance on jokes. If a movie is funny and kept someone entertained, they will recommend it forever but never tend to focus on the technical aspects that actually make a movie. I found Waldemar Centeno's editing throughout Big Time Adolescence to be unbelievably well-time and concise. Whether it's my experience as an editor or not, the timing of his cuts and the way he utilized reaction shots throughout this film made it that much funnier. The timing of humor is one of its most crucial parts in terms of delivery and Centeno completely nailed every scene of this film. This was apparent to me even in the first twenty minutes or so and the way he cuts out of certain scenes and juxtaposes different characters' situations was brilliant. I did find that it was still a bit quick during the dramatic aspects, not giving me much time to process everything, but it was wildly effective regardless. There might not have been anything revolutionary about the storytelling throughout this film but the chemistry between this cast and the stupendous editing make it one of my favorites of this year by far.
If there's one thing that Saturday Night Live can do incredibly well is pair their comedians with a certain branding that will follow them for the rest of their careers. I feel like Davidson has already achieved his brand very well and is able to utilize it perfectly. Big Time Adolescence is an incredible movie and even though its themes have already been done and its story points are fairly generic, there is something about it that just made it feel so unique. I would strongly recommend this film whether or not you are even a fan of Davidson's strange reputation and would definitely recommend it to see some of these young, rising stars who I am certain will find much wider success very soon.
My Rating: ★★★★
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