C'mon C'mon

This film genuinely feels like a warm hug. From the beautiful score, the carefully crafted narrative, and the very sincere performances from the cast. On first watch I thought this one was pretty good, but on this watch, as I was this time craving for a sentimental drama tonight, I paid more attention and found so much more amazing things about this film. Throughout the tragic and heartbreaking undertone of some of the predicaments this family bunch lands in, this film still feels very comforting and beautiful with the characters in it that give off hope in trying times. Mike Mills crafts so much rawness and and care into these characters that hits so hard to real life which is what really makes this film so great for me. The first thing I wanna touch on is the acting performances which are great all around, especially from Woody Norman and Joaquin Phoenix. For just a kid, Woody shows so much maturity in his acting performances and I know I’ve said this before but I absolutely love Joaquin Phoenix. This might just be my favorite performance from him because it feels so sincere and emotionally raw to a point where it makes us feel for his character on another level. His acting in this one truly feels like one of the most caring and immersive performances I’ve seen in a while. His dynamic with woody in this film just feels so natural and endearing, like this bond stretches beyond the screen and into real life. The next thing I wanna touch on is the choice of having the main character dynamic revolve around an adult & child. It’s a very important choice Mike made to help this narrative and easily the best choice he could’ve made. I feel like this film really puts into perspective how difficult, stressful, important, yet rewarding parenting is. It’s so hard because kids don’t know how to properly handle regulating their emotions or reacting to their circumstances which makes them all flustered and overwhelmed at times which makes them very needy. And on top of that, parents have to put their all into nurturing their kids all while dealing with troubles of their own which is one thing this film puts into perspective really well. Like I said, this film also tells the importance of being a parent as well. It shows the importance of being the main ones to guide them in life and this extremely problematic world filled with bad that you can easily fall victim to. That touch of showing the importance of being a parent and guardian is again why this film works amazingly. The thought of being the one to protect a child from the evil and hardships of the human experience can be scary but also make you feel proud as a parent once you accomplish that large feat In a way, kids help adults regulate their emotions as well because of their natural curiosity, as we see with Jesse’s character constantly asking Johnny questions about his personal life. The film tells a very interesting message of how this natural curiosity from kids that opens up a gateway for the parents to be more transparent about their emotions they don’t usually show since the kids don’t have intentions of judgement but only to try and make more sense of the people and world around them. This narrative and dynamic between the two is so comforting because it hits so close to home for me. It’s showing this shared human experience of yearning for someone to express your feeling of confusion, anguish, pain and sadness during the hard times of life and in this film, Jesse was that someone. The narrative also hits on how we yearn for someone to guide us and assure us that the future we often dread will turn out ok because they’re always beside us and in this film, Joaquin’s character, Johnny was that someone. In life we need somebody to hold through the toughest goings of life in order to make more understanding of the storm and to find ways to get through it and say in unison “Cmon Cmon” out of quickly passing through tough times and into better days because with that someone, those tough times went by faster. Favorite Films