Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Johnny and his young nephew forge a tenuous but transformational relationship when they embark on a cross-country trip to see life away from Los Angeles.
C'mon C'mon is a quiet, intimate drama elevated significantly by Joaquin Phoenix's naturalistic performance and the remarkably unaffected work of Woody Norman as the nephew Jesse. Mike Mills shoots in gorgeous black-and-white cinematography that gives American cities a fresh, tactile texture, and the real-world interviews with children add documentary depth. The plot is slight and episodic — more mood than narrative — which is both its strength and limitation. The ending is gentle rather than cathartic, consistent with the film's low-key register but not especially memorable. Novelty is present in its hybrid documentary-fiction approach and its unusually honest portrayal of childhood interiority, though Mills's style is recognizable from 20th Century Women and Beginners.