Movie Reviews: My Old Ass Ages Well On Amazon Prime
Beautiful! Sentimental! And Just An Easy Film! My Old As, out in theaters September 13 and Amazon Prime on September 27, surprised me. Defined as a comedy, it was humorous but not hilarious. Instead, it is indescribably poignant, brisk, and one of the most thoughtful films I have seen awhile. Written and directed by Megan Park, its vibe felt more like The Sandlot or Stand By Me: films with a light-hearted charm that bring up the existential dread and wonder of growing old.
Elliott (Maisie Stella) decides to get high on her 18th birthday with her best friends: leaving her family to celebrate her without her. Upon its beginning, you feel the energy of a typical teenager: eager to grow up and be free and independent, but this film is about the 39 year old that understands…. those terms are not so flighty. You do not become Queen of Freedom because you go to college or hook-up with Chad ( Percy Hynes White). In fact, its the simplicity of those standards, and how going out with your friends, picking fruit with your parents, or playing golf with your little brothers feel symbolic of how you are either ¨grown¨ or chained to childish duties like, packing up your room. Thus, Elliott meets the 39 year old version of herself (played by Aubrey Plaza), during a mushroom trip, both begin a journey about regrets, redemption, and what it means to always rediscover what joy means to your life.
Stella is exceptional. She is so natural, charismatic, and completely embodies the exuberant wisdom and idiocy that has lived in every 18 year old, which her ¨ old ass¨ has forgotten. Aubrey Plaza is not in the film that much, but when she appears, it is scene-stealing. She has such a commanding presence, and I wish she was given more dramatic roles. While she is always funny, she tragically captures the feelings we get, as we get older, that had certain experiences not occurred, we would have been better. Maybe, if we had not had so many or certain heartbreaks, we would have had the strength for our dreams?
It is this question I notice in a lot of my friends, especially women that head into their 30s, 40s, and even 50s: did you spend too much of your life healing from others rather than living for yourself? So many of us have a tragedy or poor choice, that drifts us from a happier road, and we swear that, if it had not occurred, we would be better. Yet, that is not true, or, at least, Megan Park does not think so. Ultimately, what I loved about this film is older Elliott learns as much from her younger self. She is not, necessarily, wiser because she is older; in fact, what both characters realize it is staying present if that gives you fuel to build your future: not just react to it like, something happening to you instead of for you.
