A-List: Coming of Age Movies
By Josh Spiegel
April 2, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
The coming-of-age movie isn't the most common to show up at the weekly box office, certainly not as much as a horror movie, or a simple romantic comedy. I say "simple" because most coming-of-age movies have some romance and comedy in them, but usually aren't the same as a movie like When Harry Met Sally... or Sleepless in Seattle. A good chunk of coming-of-age movies, such as The Squid and the Whale, are based very much on the lives of the people who write and direct them, which also limits the amount of these stories in theaters.
However, this Friday, we will get another entry in the coming-of-age genre, the 1980s-set Adventureland, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart (and from what I hear, no vampires appear). The movie, written and directed by Superbad helmer Greg Mottola, is based on Mottola's teenage years, but as we'll see in the A-List, not all coming-of-age movies have to be based on the writer's life. Though we've yet to see if Adventureland will be thought of fondly in years to come, let's take a look at the A-List of coming-of-age movies and hope that it will one day be worthy.
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
Yes, I know that when we think of the Star Wars sextet of films, the phrase "coming-of-age" doesn't jump to mind. No, terms such as "action-packed," "epic," and "soul-killing" are what we think of, especially if the Star Wars prequels come up in conversation. Despite that, the first...or fourth Star Wars film, A New Hope, is a quintessential coming-of-age film with a main character who's unsure of himself, an unattainable woman (forget for a moment that she turns out to be the main character's sister), a helpful mentor, wisecracking sidekicks of human and robotic form, and a seemingly insurmountable villain. Though writer-director George Lucas couched the story of young Luke Skywalker becoming a man with plenty of science-fiction space battles, mythology about a mysterious Force, and effete robots, there's no question that A New Hope, specifically, is about Skywalker growing up. By the time The Empire Strikes Back begins, Luke is already a respected member of the Rebel Alliance; at the beginning of A New Hope, he's a hopeless farmer-in-training who dreams of being a fighter pilot. Mark Hamill, as Skywalker, may not have been the best actor, but for kids everywhere, he personified the down-on-his-luck kid who wants to be whisked away into a world of adventure.
Almost Famous
In some ways, the life that writer-director Cameron Crowe led before becoming the acclaimed auteur behind Jerry Maguire, Singles, and Say Anything... is more interesting than the movies he's made. Before he, as a writer for Rolling Stone Magazine, went undercover as a high school student to write the popular book Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which became an iconic '80s movie, Crowe wrote about music for Rolling Stone...at age 15. When I was 15, I was sitting in a movie theater, watching Almost Famous, Crowe's autobiographical look at his time as a teenage journalist, wondering how a guy could be so lucky and why that guy couldn't be me. With newcomer Patrick Fugit as Crowe's stand-in, Almost Famous takes a biting look at the music industry in the 1970s, while also being filled with poignant and classic moments, such as the tour bus sing-a-long of Elton John's Tiny Dancer, or the declaration by the lead singer of the fictional band Stillwater, "I am a golden god!" Granted, the man isn't anything close to a golden god, but watching Billy Crudup's Russell Hammond dive headlong into a pool, or Fugit's William Miller hopelessly pine for Penny Lane (Kate Hudson, in the fluky role of her career) reminds you of what you wish your teenage years were like: parties, beautiful girls, and rock music.
Say Anything...
Cameron Crowe does coming-of-age well...what can I say? His 1989 dramedy is a great realization of high school for the kids who don't get to ride shotgun with big rock bands. Starring John Cusack as the classic Lloyd Dobler and Ione Skye as the brilliant, beautiful Diane Court, Say Anything... is about these two kids' blooming romance at the end of their senior year. Diane, while respected for her brains, is socially inept, making her first major appearance at a high school party that happens to be a post-graduation blowout. She's asked to go by Lloyd, a kickboxing slacker who doesn't know what he wants to do, but knows very much what he doesn't want to do; his monologue about avoiding selling, buying, or processing anything as a career is classic. Though Lloyd and Diane are completely opposite from each other, his gentleness woos her over, even though there are bumps on the road (leading, of course, to that iconic image of Cusack holding a boombox over his head). Part of what makes Say Anything... such a classic movie is its willingness to focus away from the kids, specifically in the subplot about Diane's dad (John Mahoney) and his corrupt financial dealings. It does help that Cusack and Skye have great chemistry, as do the other teenage characters, played by Lili Taylor, Loren Dean, and Jeremy Piven, among others. Say Anything... isn't Crowe's most popular film, but it's his most heartwarming and touching, one that really speaks to the awkward teenager hiding in all of us.
To Kill A Mockingbird
Based on the Harper Lee novel that's required reading in almost any school in America, To Kill A Mockingbird is the 1962 classic from Robert Mulligan, starring Gregory Peck as the best father anyone could ask for: he's smart, kind, and can fire a shotgun better than your dad. Peck plays Atticus Finch, the sole brave man in town willing to take the case of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman in the town of Maycomb. To Kill A Mockingbird is also said to be based very much on Lee's childhood; in the film, she's personified as Scout, a tomboy who learns about racism, who her family and friends really are, and other typically sentimental and saccharine topics.
What sets this film apart is the lack of pandering and condescension with any of the subject matter. No one going into the movie will be surprised that the film is firmly against racism, as the book is, but the point is never hammered home; subtlety wins the day here. What little bombast there is comes mostly in the courtroom proceedings, though Atticus' final plea to the jury ("Believe Tom Robinson!") is both rousing and immensely sad, thanks in part to the reality that legal justice and moral rectitude won't be on the same side with this divisive case. To Kill A Mockingbird is, in many ways, the quintessential coming-of-age film, even if the more memorable aspects of the movie come from the courtroom or from the quiet debut of the great Robert Duvall, as Boo Radley. From the fully realized town of Maycomb to the life lessons Scout learns to the episodic nature of the film, everything comes together with this classic.
Stand By Me
Watching "Stand By Me" is always fun, if you end up watching it with someone who has no idea that Stephen King, modern master of twisted horror, is the creative mind behind the short story this 1986 dramedy is based on, "The Body." Sure, the title of that story seems ominous, but the material within is anything but. The movie, directed by Rob Reiner, is set in the late 1950s, as a group of four friends make a trek through the forests of Oregon to see a dead body laying near some railroad tracks. The foursome are Gordie (Will Wheaton, pre-Star Trek), a quiet boy who feels the loss of his big brother more than the rest of his family; Chris (the late River Phoenix), a smart but conflicted kid who comes from the wrong side of the tracks; Vern (Jerry O'Connell, I swear), a fat kid who's scared of his own shadow; and Teddy (Corey Feldman), a nerdy kid who thinks his physically abusive dad is a war hero. During the trip, the four boys argue, fight, laugh, and cry; eventually, they see the body, but their lives don't change dramatically. The four leads are excellent, especially Phoenix, whose natural charisma and stardom was apparent even at this early stage. Though it's hard to feel nostalgia for the 1950s if you weren't alive at the time, Reiner and the cast do a great job of making you feel like these guys did; the curiosity of the unknown, an adventurous spirit, the camaraderie of good friends all make Stand By Me a great coming-of-age movie.