*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*
For most of his career, Jonah Hill has been known for appearing in comedies such as Superbad, 21 Jump Street and The Wolf of Wall Street for which he received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Recently, he has made his directorial debut with Mid90s and it’s an impressive debut at that.
Mid90s follows Stevie (Sunny Suljic), a thirteen-year-old in '90s-era LA who spends his summer navigating between his troubled home life and a group of new friends that he meets at a Motor Avenue skate shop.
With Mid90s, Hill successfully captures that of a boy in his early teens having his first experiences, making new friends and discovering his interests. While I think that it’s an impressive directorial debut from Hill, I don’t think it will appeal to everyone as most of Stevie’s first experiences include having sex, smoking and drinking all at the age of thirteen. I think that it was brave of Hill to include this in his film as most filmmakers would avoid due to fear of appearing controversial. In my opinion, I think that, without the scenes showing Stevie having sex, drinking and smoking, Mid90s wouldn’t have been as interesting and it wouldn’t have left as much of a lasting impression. It’s definitely going to have people talking as they exit the cinema and it will most certainly divide opinion.
Mid90s features an impressive performance from its young lead actor, Sunny Suljic, as Stevie. He is a real find for Hill and he anchors the tale by making Stevie an entirely understandable character. After appearing in other films such as The Killing Of A Sacred Deer and The House With A Clock In Its Walls, I’m sure Suljic will continue to give further impressive performances in future film roles. The only other two recognisable actors are Lucas Hedges as Stevie’s brother, Ian, and Katherine Waterston as their mother, Dabney. Recently I’ve noticed Hedges appearing in a wide range of dramas since his Oscar nominated performance for Manchester By The Sea. These include last year’s Lady Bird, Boy Erased and Ben Is Back. With Mid90s, he continues to make himself known and gives a solid performance as Ian. Waterston is best known for appearing in Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them and Alien: Covenant. However, as Dabney, she gives her most serious performance yet. I would’ve liked to seen more of Stevie’s relationship with Ian and his mother, however, Hill’s script focuses more on his friends. The rest of the cast includes inexperienced actors who all give impressive performances. I respected Hill for hiring inexperienced actors as their performances felt more natural and they were convincing as their characters.
Because modern day is so caught up in technology and with a lot of people obsessing over the latest Apple product, it was interesting to see a world where children and teenagers found entertainment through skateboarding and video games, rather than from their phones. This was another aspect of Mid90s that I liked. Through the use of a square aspect ratio and the video quality of a VHS, the visuals of Mid90s evoke a 90s aesthetic alongside the fashion and setting. Hill clearly has fond memories of the 90s and those who grew up in that decade will almost certainly feel nostalgic. Being born in the late 90s, I have no memory of that era so I found it interesting to see a world without smartphones.
It can be tough making an original coming-of-age film as there's been so many successful ones, including the aforementioned Lady Bird, the Oscar-winning Boyhood, Moonlight (which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2017) and Eighth Grade just to name a few recent ones. While Mid90s isn't quite as good as those aforementioned films, it still tells a unique story that is unpredictable for most of its runtime. Prior to watching Mid90s, I was expecting an average drama about a young boy becoming friends with a group of skateboarders. It proved to be so much more than that and it beat my expectations. I was shocked when several scenes showed Stevie smoking, drinking and having sex. However, I admired Hill more as a filmmaker by including these scenes. With sex scenes, they can come across as unrealistic and awkward. While we don't actually see Stevie having sex, as the actor is too young, Hill thoroughly captures how nerve wracking your first time is. After a girl at a party asks Stevie if he wants to have sex, he tries to play it off cool and lies about being a virgin although we can clearly see that he's nervous as he's shaking. This is probably one of the most uncomfortable scenes, due to Stevie being underage. As Mid90s progressed, I did wonder how it was going to end, however, I wasn't expecting the car crash that occurred. I was worried that this would leave to Stevie dying, fortunately, he survives, albeit a few injuries. A touching scene shows Dabney turning up at the hospital and seeing all his friends asleep in the waiting room, meaning they spent the night making sure he was okay. The ending itself does feel a bit abrupt as we see a montage of clips that one of Stevie's friends has filmed and we see the highlights of his summer.
When Mid90s was first released in the United States last year, I wasn’t interested in seeing it as I didn’t think I would like it. Fortunately, it beat my expectations and it left a lasting impression. Throughout its brisk 85 minute runtime, I was engaged and I found it to be a compelling watch. I can understand people not being interested in Mid90s due to its lack of action and superheroes, however, I think it’s worth watching as you may be pleasantly surprised like I was.
Overall, with Mid90s, Jonah Hill makes an impressive directorial debut and he tells an unique coming of age story and also successfully captures that of a boy in his early teens having his first experiences, discovering his interests and fitting in with his friends.
7/10
Mid90s follows Stevie (Sunny Suljic), a thirteen-year-old in '90s-era LA who spends his summer navigating between his troubled home life and a group of new friends that he meets at a Motor Avenue skate shop.
With Mid90s, Hill successfully captures that of a boy in his early teens having his first experiences, making new friends and discovering his interests. While I think that it’s an impressive directorial debut from Hill, I don’t think it will appeal to everyone as most of Stevie’s first experiences include having sex, smoking and drinking all at the age of thirteen. I think that it was brave of Hill to include this in his film as most filmmakers would avoid due to fear of appearing controversial. In my opinion, I think that, without the scenes showing Stevie having sex, drinking and smoking, Mid90s wouldn’t have been as interesting and it wouldn’t have left as much of a lasting impression. It’s definitely going to have people talking as they exit the cinema and it will most certainly divide opinion.
Mid90s features an impressive performance from its young lead actor, Sunny Suljic, as Stevie. He is a real find for Hill and he anchors the tale by making Stevie an entirely understandable character. After appearing in other films such as The Killing Of A Sacred Deer and The House With A Clock In Its Walls, I’m sure Suljic will continue to give further impressive performances in future film roles. The only other two recognisable actors are Lucas Hedges as Stevie’s brother, Ian, and Katherine Waterston as their mother, Dabney. Recently I’ve noticed Hedges appearing in a wide range of dramas since his Oscar nominated performance for Manchester By The Sea. These include last year’s Lady Bird, Boy Erased and Ben Is Back. With Mid90s, he continues to make himself known and gives a solid performance as Ian. Waterston is best known for appearing in Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them and Alien: Covenant. However, as Dabney, she gives her most serious performance yet. I would’ve liked to seen more of Stevie’s relationship with Ian and his mother, however, Hill’s script focuses more on his friends. The rest of the cast includes inexperienced actors who all give impressive performances. I respected Hill for hiring inexperienced actors as their performances felt more natural and they were convincing as their characters.
Because modern day is so caught up in technology and with a lot of people obsessing over the latest Apple product, it was interesting to see a world where children and teenagers found entertainment through skateboarding and video games, rather than from their phones. This was another aspect of Mid90s that I liked. Through the use of a square aspect ratio and the video quality of a VHS, the visuals of Mid90s evoke a 90s aesthetic alongside the fashion and setting. Hill clearly has fond memories of the 90s and those who grew up in that decade will almost certainly feel nostalgic. Being born in the late 90s, I have no memory of that era so I found it interesting to see a world without smartphones.
It can be tough making an original coming-of-age film as there's been so many successful ones, including the aforementioned Lady Bird, the Oscar-winning Boyhood, Moonlight (which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2017) and Eighth Grade just to name a few recent ones. While Mid90s isn't quite as good as those aforementioned films, it still tells a unique story that is unpredictable for most of its runtime. Prior to watching Mid90s, I was expecting an average drama about a young boy becoming friends with a group of skateboarders. It proved to be so much more than that and it beat my expectations. I was shocked when several scenes showed Stevie smoking, drinking and having sex. However, I admired Hill more as a filmmaker by including these scenes. With sex scenes, they can come across as unrealistic and awkward. While we don't actually see Stevie having sex, as the actor is too young, Hill thoroughly captures how nerve wracking your first time is. After a girl at a party asks Stevie if he wants to have sex, he tries to play it off cool and lies about being a virgin although we can clearly see that he's nervous as he's shaking. This is probably one of the most uncomfortable scenes, due to Stevie being underage. As Mid90s progressed, I did wonder how it was going to end, however, I wasn't expecting the car crash that occurred. I was worried that this would leave to Stevie dying, fortunately, he survives, albeit a few injuries. A touching scene shows Dabney turning up at the hospital and seeing all his friends asleep in the waiting room, meaning they spent the night making sure he was okay. The ending itself does feel a bit abrupt as we see a montage of clips that one of Stevie's friends has filmed and we see the highlights of his summer.
When Mid90s was first released in the United States last year, I wasn’t interested in seeing it as I didn’t think I would like it. Fortunately, it beat my expectations and it left a lasting impression. Throughout its brisk 85 minute runtime, I was engaged and I found it to be a compelling watch. I can understand people not being interested in Mid90s due to its lack of action and superheroes, however, I think it’s worth watching as you may be pleasantly surprised like I was.
Overall, with Mid90s, Jonah Hill makes an impressive directorial debut and he tells an unique coming of age story and also successfully captures that of a boy in his early teens having his first experiences, discovering his interests and fitting in with his friends.
7/10
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