Kodachrome is a very interesting Netflix original film that is worth checking out. Jason Sudeikis plays a young record signer who learns his father, played by Ed Harris, is dying of cancer. They then have to reluctantly go on a trip together with his father's nurse in toll, played by Elizabeth Olsen, to get his father's last roll of kodachrome film developed. While it follows a generic idea, many of the plot devices and characters are great. The performances from the entire cast were fantastic and made this movie a decent watch.
The best parts of this film were the performances and some of the plot devices. Jason Sudeikis, Ed Harris, and Elizabeth Olsen are the main roles in this film and they have surprisingly excellent chemistry together. They all gave great - not amazing - performances and definitely brought life to their characters. This film definitely made me appreciate Sudeikis' acting abilities, as it shows that he can do more than just comedy. Even though his character was a bit comedic, he is able to effectively play a dramatic role and that was amazing to see. One of the best scenes in the entire movie, however, was between Harris and Sudeikis. The entire film, the father and son were bickering and arguing about different aspects of their lives growing up. The best scene comes in the end, when Harris' character Ben is lying on the hospital bed opening up to his son in a moving monologue. Harris is truly a great actor and was able to show much emotion during this scene, unlike the rest of the movie. While it did feel out of place for his character to suddenly change like that, it was a pleasantly positive ending for this character. I also enjoyed the original plot devices throughout the movie. There are not many "re-connection"-type films that give the grumpy old man a photography and arts career, but this one incorporated it well. I would have never expected Harris' character to be in that field of work, but the photography and music motifs seen in both him and his son were original and well-written.
My biggest issue with this movie was its extremely generic plot. A reluctant son takes his old, dying father on one last trip to relive his glory days. This plot has been used endlessly in hundreds of different movies and thus made this film very predictable. There was nothing fresh for the genre, other than the creative plot devices I mentioned above. The first act of this movie introduced us to everything very fluently, but the second and beginning of the third act were lagging very badly. The story seemed to progress at a snail's pace, and given that it was already predictable, became dull in many spots. My other issue with this film was the relationship between Matt and Zoe, Sudeikis and Olsen, respectively. Given this movie's familiar tone, it was obvious that they were going to end up together in one way or another. However, when they spent the night together the first time, their relationship was not developed well at all. They were simply drunk sharing a room together, but acted as if they had been flirting for weeks. The writing did not treat Zoe bad at all, as she had her fair amount of backstory, but there was no substance behind why she wanted to get with Matt. There was also a lack of decently imaginative cinematography, save for the very last shot. The shadowy backgrounds of Matt and Zoe reminiscing through Ben's photographs and clicking in and out of frame was typical, but it was cute and I still enjoyed it nonetheless.
This movie is a decently emotional ride that is absolutely suiting for a Netflix original. If you happen to stumble upon it, I would definitely recommend it as the cast is great and the story is effective. Don't expect an Oscar-worthy film but Kodachrome is a good entry into the father-son drama genre.
My Rating: ★★★
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