As we hurtle toward the Oscars, the Sundance Film Festival has already come and gone in the mad rush of awards and festivals that marks this season as the busiest in the film industry. Artists new and old, young and seasoned come together in Park City, Utah to buzz and be buzzed about, creating hype around projects both fiercely independent and modestly mainstream. Just last year, Beasts of the Southern Wild burst onto the scene and gained considerable traction here, winning the Grand Jury Prize. Now, it’s one of the nine Best Picture contenders for Oscar. Young Adult Magazine had the unique opportunity to participate at this year’s Sundance Fest, and here are our findings from the slate of projects getting picked up for the coming year:
Austenland – This is the story of a young woman named Jane (Keri Russell) who’s obsessed with Jane Austen novels. When she decides to take a trip to a Jane Austen vacation hotspot she must figure out what’s real and what’s fake. Along the way she makes a friend, played by (everybody’s favorite) Jennifer Coolidge, who helps Jane navigate throughout the film.
Out of the Sundance slate of films we were able to see, Austenland was far and away the most entertaining to watch. Who knew there was fresh territory here after the abundance of Austen-inspired films from a few years back (Becoming Jane, The Jane Austen Book Club…) Unsurprisingly, Jennifer C. puts everyone in his or her place and steals the show. Hopefully they’ll make a sequel just about her character!
Prince Avalanche – tells an all-too-simple story about two men working in the woods. Alvin (Paul Rudd) knows what he wants and is just trying to make a living as a highway road worker, while Lance (Emile Hirsch) is young, impressionable and just starting his life. Unfortunately, there’s not much else to say; this was a very long 94 minutes. While the idea of two men hashing things out and working together in isolation is evocative, and the ever-talented Emile Hirsch really hits his lines on the mark, the filmmakers need to do more with these incredible actors than having them just paint yellow lines on the road…
The Spectacular Now – A young adult (Miles Teller) in high school is dealing with the tribulations of his life: he’s an alcoholic with an ex-girlfriend who works at a suit shop. After a night of drunkenness he meets a beautiful girl (Shailene Woodley, standout from The Descendants) who shows him the way. The only question is, will he let her?
The Spectacular Now should in fact be called The Spectacular Past. While moderately enjoyable at times, the film lacks originality. The fact that this younger man is an alcoholic could have made for a whole movie on its own, but Nowdoesn’t go anywhere with it. The same for Shailene–what an unbelievable actress, most definitely the next Rachel McAdams or Julia Roberts–her character is a great one and once she starts drinking you expect it to go somewhere, but it never does. Even still, the film does have a way of staying with you, and the acting was excellent–Miles Teller gives aspectacular performance, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.
Very Good Girls – In Brooklyn the ever-precocious Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen star as best friends living a few blocks away from each other. Both families are screwed up in very comfy cinematic ways, Ellen Barkin and Clark Gregg as Dakota’s parents with Demi Moore and Richard Dreyfuss playing Elizabeth’s. When the two girls meet a charming street artist (newcomer Boyd Holbrook) on the beach, they both fall for him. With Dakota keeping him a secret, the girls’ friendship is tested.
This movie is not so much about the boy as it is about friendship. While slow at times, it shows the essence of what true friendship is. Both more than capable actresses, the girls reveal who they are as individuals and how they come together as friends. Growing up isn’t easy, and when you take off your clothes if gets even more complex…