Bryan Sudfield

★★★★★ The year before this came out, I lost one of my best friends from childhood to suicide that summer. That also happened to be the year before I started my freshman year of high school. Whenever I revisit this film, it brings back those painful memories, not just because I was still grieving over my friend being gone. But, because I was holding in my pain, not opening up to anyone and constantIy being bullied. I saw so much of myself in Charlie.

The struggle to find a group to where you belong. The frequent bickering with the older sibling. The confusion in expressing your emotions. The questioning of if you’re an embarrassment to your parents. These are things we have seen in a majority of coming-of-age films. Sean Wang’s handling of all of this in  was brutally real, to the point where I started thinking back to when I was 14 years old. I felt very lost, very hopeless and very lonely, at times.

★★½ Shawn Levy’s best film will always be Big Fat Liar. Hugh Jackman jumped back into the role like he never left. A Green Day needle drop surprisingly hit me in the feels. Certainly not a top-tier entry in the MCU, but far from being at the very bottom. Admired a few of the swings taken here, yet I’m not going to remember this film in a week’s time. The schtick was getting old about halfway through. Quit while you’re ahead, Ryan.