The Peanut Butter Falcon

Grade: B

Writer/directors Tyler Nilson and Mike Schwartz have crafted a lovely, feel-good movie with The Peanut Butter Falcon. The plot involves Zak, a man in his mid-30s with Down Syndrome, who – with the help of his roommate (Bruce Dern) – escapes his care home by stripping down to his underwear, lubing himself up with soap, and squeezing through the bars in the window, which have been pulled apart just enough. From there he stows away on Tyler’s (Shia Lebouf) boat, and they have a modern-day Mark Twain adventure of sorts, while one of Zak’s supervisors from the home (Dakota Johnson, a veteran of the 50 Shades films) is on Zak’s trail, trying to bring him back. It inspires lines like “We have to get you back! You have a file, and a signature, and paperwork, and fingerprints” and “What we’ve been doing out here is called living!”

Performances are effective across the board. John Hawkes, who has been in at least 2 of my favorite movies, adds to his already eclectic resume with his memorable supporting role here. But holding it all together is 34-year-old Zach Gottsagen – who actually has Down Syndrome in real life – as Zak. Many high-profile actors have played characters with disabilities. They like to give out Oscars for such performances. However, Gottsagen’s authentic presence gives it more weight than anyone else could. We all remember Robert Downey Jr’s speech from Tropic Thunder about “going Full [R-word].” I also admired how the movie side-steps many cliches. We think we know what will happen, and how it will happen, but for the most part, things unfold in refreshingly unexpected ways.

Grade: B