Jump to content

Type keyword(s) to search
Forum Reorganization

My Old Ass (2024)

StatisticalOutlier

By StatisticalOutlier
in Movies

Recommended Posts

SeanC

SeanC

Stella and Plaza have only slightly more resemblance than did Tony Revolori and F. Murray Abraham in The Grand Budapest Hotel, but as the latter film showed, if the performances are good it doesn't matter terribly much. And they work well opposite each other here, while the script is both sensitively written and pretty funny when it wants to be.

A pleasant and all-too-rare instance of a Canadian director actually getting to make films set in Canada when working outside the Canadian film industry.

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

(edited)
Quote

I feel like we're on the edge of the major rebellion and breakdowns I can see Daphne having. God, I keep wishing she were a little older because I bet she's the more compelling actress than her sister.

I wrote this about Maisy Stella in 2017 and I feel vindicated by this movie. She is damn good, and I am really glad that she came back to acting after doing the regular school kid thing.

Edited by methodwriter85
  • Like 2
methodwriter85

methodwriter85

(edited)
17 hours ago, Fukui San said:

I just watched this twice in a row over the last two days. Loved this so much. Loved how Aubrey Plaza just dropped these little bits of world building that her younger self never picks up on. 

I loved the foreshadowing where she mentions how some rich asshole bought up the at-the-time uninhabited small island where Elliot camped overnight with her friends. Then we learn that her family is selling the cranberry farm, presumably to the same rich asshole that later buys up the small island.

I kind of wanted this to be a 2000's period piece, but you're right though- setting this "now" and Aubrey Plaza being from the 2040's meant the movie could mention all these little bits about the serious environmental disaster that she's clearly living in, like salmon no longer existing. (It also ties into the very clear insinuation that the idyllic environment where Elliot grew up becomes some big developed resort/rich people's playground by Aubrey's time.) 

Edited by methodwriter85
  • Like 1
luna1122again

luna1122again

One of my faves of the year. It's just bittersweet and beautiful, and and the sweet, simple message at its heart could have been cheesy but wasn't. 

I knew Maisy from Nashville and this was such a confident,  charming big screen debut for her. And Aubrey's already kind of a legend, but the scene with the hug between her and Chad...that was some phenomenal, subtle acting on her part. I was already crying, but I quite frankly lost my shit. 

Lovely film. 

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

12 hours ago, luna1122again said:

And Aubrey's already kind of a legend, but the scene with the hug between her and Chad...that was some phenomenal, subtle acting on her part. I was already crying, but I quite frankly lost my shit. 

My personal fan wank is that Chad died of natural causes (cancer? Maybe he needed an organ transplant that just didn't arrive in time?) when they were in grad school. I don't think it was something Elliot could have tried to prevent, like a car accident or a murder. I think Elliot dropped out due to her grief but finally went back to her PhD program after 15 years, hence her being a PhD candidate at 39 years old. 

  • Like 1
EtheltoTillie

EtheltoTillie

(edited)
On 1/4/2025 at 11:33 PM, methodwriter85 said:

Damn, I think it might be hard to re-watch this movie now given the shitty news. Poor Aubrey Plaza. Nobody plans on being a widow at 40.

So I watched it today.  That was kind of too prescient, wasn't it. 

On 10/2/2024 at 6:15 PM, SeanC said:

A pleasant and all-too-rare instance of a Canadian director actually getting to make films set in Canada when working outside the Canadian film industry.

I see that the director starred in a Hallmark Christmas Princess movie!

Edited by EtheltoTillie
Bastet

Bastet

On 10/3/2024 at 2:36 PM, AimingforYoko said:

The scene where Aubrey hugs Chad was some of her best acting.

The only other thing I've seen her in is Emily the Criminal, in which I found her absolutely fantastic.  She was great in this, too, and the way she breathed in his scent during the hug made it a wonderful scene, but overall my feelings mostly lined up with this autostraddle review:

Quote

The premise itself is a fascinating exploration of one’s inner child: What would you say to your younger self if you could give them advice on anything? And would your younger self even listen? Watching Stella and Plaza riff off one another as the same character ages apart was delightful. The humorous chemistry between them is palpable, and enjoyable to watch. However, what begins as a promising tale of exploring love and queerness, and the joy and fear inherent to the passage of time, ultimately falls short of expectation.

Quote

While I find the idea of documenting a young girl’s journey into her bisexuality as a refreshing, exciting exploration, the poor storytelling and narrative structure of the film left me with some concerns. For some viewers — especially those who do not identify as LGBTQ+ — the story could be seen as the narrative of a young lesbian “just finding the right guy.” There is a scene between Elliott and a friend of hers named Ro (Kerrice Brooks) in which Ro validates Elliott’s queerness as a malleable force that is allowed to explore itself and change, but the scene is so quick and muddled with Gen Z slang that it feels like an afterthought. Older Elliott does mention smoking her girlfriend’s weed at one point, but the comment is very quick and could be easily missed, or forgotten. There is also an uncertainty in Elliott regarding her attraction to women, where she finds herself distanced from those experiences and unsure of what she “really wants.” Cue Chad, a cisgender heterosexual man (Percy Hynes White, whose allegations of sexual assault and racist tweets also left a bad taste in my mouth when Googling him after this film). The setup for this relationship can greatly imply to the untrained viewer that Elliott’s lesbianism is a folly of teenagehood, and her first love being with Chad an indication that she has come back around to men. Again, what could be an energizing representation of bisexuality/pansexuality, instead through clunky storytelling comes across as lesbophobic.

Quote

Outside of its takes on sexuality, the execution of the story itself is rather bland, which is disappointing considering the fascinating intention. Older Elliott tells her younger self to cherish her family, and Younger Elliott listens. There’s no true conflict, no sense that Elliott is actually learning anything. The stakes therefore feel low or nonexistent. And in falling for Chad, her older self is scarcely to be seen to give more advice, and so again Younger Elliott’s decisions feel hollow, and without much weight behind them. There’s no true conflict in the story, and all of the emotional beats feel less like gut punches than reading the outline of a script yet to be written in full. I noticed which moments were meant to make me feel sad, angry, happy, but I didn’t actually feel any of those emotions.

I do not, however, join the reviewer in saying she'd tell herself to skip it.  It had such good performances I'm glad I watched.  But it was nowhere near the movie I thought it was going to be, and that's a bummer.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...