The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)

August 26, 2019 9:26 AM

The Peanut Butter Falcon is an adventure story set in the world of a modern Mark Twain that begins when Zak, a young man with Down syndrome, runs away from a nursing home where he lives to chase his dream of becoming a professional wrestler and attending the wrestling school of The Salt Water Redneck. Through circumstances beyond their control Tyler, a small time outlaw on the run becomes Zak's unlikely coach and ally. Together they wind through deltas, elude capture, drink whisky, find God, catch fish, and convince Eleanor, a kind nursing home employee with a story of her own to join them on their journey.
posted by vverse23 (3 comments total)

I thought this was a pretty heartwarming and enjoyable movie, right until the last ten minutes or so when it enters into utter fantasy. I thought Hunt for the Wilderpeople captured the same feelings, better.
posted by graventy at 10:20 AM on September 8, 2019 [1 favorite]

Plot as well-worn and comfortable as a pair of pyjamas, Yo La Tengo, Mick Foley and Thomas Hayden Church - what's not to love about this film?
posted by Flashman at 10:31 AM on September 7, 2020

I was expecting not to enjoy this, so I'm not sure why I picked it for viewing the other night. I was happily surprised! It managed to sidestep a bunch of tropes that tend to annoy me (see the American version of Head Full Of Honey if you want to see all of this done wrong, IMHO).

Heartwarming without being cloying, which I think is a hard thing to do. The utterly fantastical part at the end made us laugh out loud in a good way. Zak was written well, and the actor Zach who played him really ran with it.

I didn't pick up on this while watching, but my boyfriend was wondering how much Zak really cared about running away and how much Bruce Dern's character had planted ideas in his head about it. Either way, this was a nice relief to watch.
posted by queensissy at 2:26 PM on September 9, 2020