As Cool As I Am

As Cool As I Am is the story of Lucy (Sarah Bolger; Once Upon A Time), a brilliant young girl whose age of innocence is about to end and the result is seeing the world for what it is. She see’s her father (James Marsden; 30 Rock) and her mother (Claire Danes; Homeland) as the immature self centered people that they are. She also begins to see herself as an adult and all that, that implies. 

 

I like going into films without knowing a whole lot about them. I knew the cast and the work that they’ve done and, as a collective, wondered what they would bring to the table. They’re all so different in backgrounds. Fortunately that ended up being a great casting decision as everyone in the film is headed in different directions and aren’t meant to be your typical family unit. 

 

Mom and Dad are self centered, living with some regrets about having a child at a young age, omitting their youth for the responsibilities of raising a child, and they seem to have arrived at an odd union of mid-life crisis together. Dad, who spends most of his life working away in Canada, and Mom who is trying to rekindle her youth by misbehaving, pretty much leave Lucy to her own devices, occasionally piping in with cautionary warnings about teenage sex. As a child who has grown up in that kind of environment she’s unfortunately accustomed to this kind of behavior has adapted. 

 

At times the film is a bit unnerving. You see some of the typical clichés about people who had children to early, teenage sex, etc. Though the film doesn’t really glamorize the actions of irresponsible mid-life crisis having parents (far from it) you do get caught up in the emotions of your characters, which attests to great acting. Still, it’s not going to be a film for everyone. I can see more uppity folks finding offense with a lot of what goes on in this surreal drama. Still, well worth seeing for the brilliant acting and a decent story. 

 

PICTURE QUALITY:

The film isn’t overwhelmingly perfect. Everything seems to be in it’s right place but the environment of the world the film exists in itself doesn’t offer up much chance for the film to shine. It’s basically a play it safe type film with a lot of close shots to minimize that gray area. Textures look decent, skin colors are organic, and technical difficulties are minimized to some slight grain and an even smaller amount of blur. Like the picture quality the audio doesn’t really explode, though this is a dialogue driven drama so it works. 

 

BONUS FEATURES:

~Behind The Scenes Feature

~Trailer