Laggies (2014) [Blu-ray]
Comedy | Romance

Taglines: A comedy about acting your age and other adult decisions.

Keira Knightley and Chloe Grace Moretz shine in this feel-good comedy about two unlikely friends: Megan, a 28-year-old who's not ready for adulthood, and Annika, a 16-year-old who wonders if there's life after high school. As their paths intertwine in surprising and hilarious ways, Megan and Annika help each other to stop lagging... and start living!

Storyline: Megan's approaching 30 with a good degree and a boyfriend in hand, but when he proposes at her friend's wedding and everyone seems to think that the best way to advance in her career is to take a seminar where you find out what animal you are, Megan's understandably feeling lost. After meeting teenagers who want her to buy them beer, Megan is drawn into 16-year-old Annika's simpler life. She ends up moving in with Annika and her single father, juggling the life of a teen and that of an adult, two romantic interests, and the feeling of lagging behind. Written by Anne Campbell

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, February 10, 2015 -- Time will tell whether the term Laggies will ultimately become as iconic as its nearest cinematic (and descriptive) sibling, Slacker. A "laggie" is indeed a "slacker" of a certain type, though in the case of Laggies' Megan (Keira Knightley), the aimlessness doesn't seem to be entirely willful, instead rising at least relatively organically from this twenty-something's inability to decide what to do with her life post-college. Megan has scraped the bottom of the employment barrel to the point where she's relegated to twirling one of those insanely oversized arrows pointing to her father's CPA business. Things seem at least marginally better on the personal relationship front, with Megan shacking up with her longtime boyfriend Anthony (Mark Webber). But soon the loose threads of Megan's life begin unraveling at a faster pace, and it becomes apparent that her inability to chart her own course has left her to "float" (in her words) and/or "sink" (in Anthony's words). A couple of unexpected events at the wedding of one of Megan's former high school crew brings everything to a head, and Laggies details the somewhat improbable, fairly low key "adventures" that Megan experiences after befriending a young high school girl named Annika (Chloë Grace Moretz), a troubled lass who seems to be recreating some of Megan's own poor decisions in front of Megan's own eyes.

Lynn Shelton is a Seattle based writer-director whose previous films like Humpday and Your Sister's Sister have brought her considerable acclaim on both the indie and Art House circuits. Working here for the first time on a film she didn't write herself, Shelton "directs what she knows," at least geographically, placing Megan and her crew in and around the Emerald City, and capturing some of the Pacific Northwest's loosey-goosey charms. That said, Laggies is a more mainstream vehicle than some of Shelton's previous efforts, something that may potentially alienate Shelton's fanbase who prefer a more twee, iconoclastic perspective.

Shelton begins Laggies with a brief throwback to the friends' high school prom night, evidently caught on a home video camera. That segues to the present day, where friendships are still evidently intact, if slightly frayed at times, as detailed in a kind of weird scene between Megan and her girlfriends as they prepare for the upcoming nuptials of Allison (Ellie Kemper). Meanwhile we've also been introduced to the loving relationship between Megan and her dad (Jeff Garlin). Dad is seemingly content to let Megan "find herself," even if that means his daughter shrugs off career seminars or any accoutrements of a so-called adult existence. Megan's mother isn't similarly disposed, and is visibly upset that Megan isn't making more of an effort to establish herself in an independent mode.

Things come to a head at Allison's wedding, when in short order Megan's sad sack boyfriend Anthony attempts (unsuccessfully) to pop the question at almost the same time Megan spies her father cheating on her mother in an outside gazebo. Thrown for an emotional loop by this one two punch, Megan leaves the reception in a panicked rush, ultimately pulling up to a convenience store where she meets a gaggle of teens, including Annika. Annika takes part in the time honored tradition of asking a legal adult to purchase some alcohol in the store for her and her friends, and Megan agrees, having "been there and done that" herself years previously. This is but the first of several instances where Megan evidently sees a reflection of sorts of her earlier life in Annika.

Megan ends up spending several hours with Annika and her friends at a nearby park, finally returning to a worried Anthony, who picks up right where he left off at the reception, urging Megan to forego any worries she has and to simply elope with him. Megan buys some time for herself by insisting she has an important seminar to attend on Orcas Island, but in reality she ends up driving aimlessly about until she receives a panicked phone call from Annika. The young girl needs a "parent" to attend a conference with a high school counselor, and Annika wants Megan to pretend she's Annika's mother. With nothing else to do, Megan consents, and after an awkward sit down with the high school counselor, asks Annika if she can crash at Annika's house for a week while she attempts to sort out her life. Since Annika's father Craig (Sam Rockwell) is a largely in absentia workaholic, it seems to be a near perfect arrangement, at least that is until Craig returns home early unexpectedly and is obviously surprised that Annika has what Craig considers to be a pretty "rough" looking high school friend.

That sets up what might be termed the Pretty Woman element of Laggies, in that a rather improbable fairy tale-esque series of events starts to intrude, and where a halting romance between Craig and Megan starts up. That fortuitous event seemingly provides a paradaisical happy ending for not just the newly minted couple, but troubled Annika as well. It's here that Laggies tends to be too pat for its own good, but Andrea Seigel's screenplay at least attempts to keep things marginally "real" by detailing various foibles in all three of the focal characters.

The contrivances of Laggies may ultimately tend to subvert some of its inherent whimsy, but there's no denying how charming the performances are. Knightley (doing a more than creditable American accent) finds a nice balance between Megan's uncertainties and her desire to actually make something out of her life (though, again, the film's ultimate denouement may seem frighteningly traditional in that regard). Rockwell is a lot of fun here, offering both the kind of button down snarkiness of Craig's professional demeanor as well as his kind of goofy persona as Annika's dad. Moretz is very sweet as Annika, making the girl both vulnerable and resilient, as so many kids of a dysfunctional family background tend to be.

Curmudgeons may be prone to viewing Laggies' improbably pat denouement and then questioning, "Yeah. . .but then what?" Megan's trek to something approaching adulthood is managed with a lot of fun in the film, but her "career" choice may rankle more progressive types. Knightley is a delight in a kind of off putting role, and Moretz and Rockwell offer excellent support along the way. The screenplay has a few too many contrivances for its own good, but director Shelton keeps things buzzing along quite amiably. Technical merits are strong, and Laggies comes Recommended.

[CSW] -3.2- I'm not a big fan of so called "rom-coms" but I was intrigued by this particularly cast. The unusualness of a "coming of age" story for someone past the "coming of age" range also piqued my curiosity. It's NOT a comedy. It's drama, not heavy drama, light-hearted drama overall, but still drama. No idea how films like these get tagged as "comedies". Even though this is written AND directed by a woman, this is NOT a sappy "lifetime-esque" chick flick (I'm an older male). Overall a good "couples" film. Perfect for a "date night" or something along those lines. Excellent cast! We need to keep an eye out for more work by Chloe Grace Moretz (Annika), who turned in an excellent acting job. And I have always been a big fan of Kaitlyn Dever (Misty) ever since Justified (Loretta McCready). Good to see Sam Rockwell (Craig) again in the role of her patient father. Keira Knightley (Megan) did an excellent job of playing the part of a woman who still hasn't completely grown but in a reversal of their usual roles, her teenage friend helps her along the way to more mature thinking. Unique story! Don't miss it!
[V4.0-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.


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