Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Zack Gottsagen, Dakota Johnson, John Hawkes, Bruce Dern, Jon Bernthal, Thomas Haden Church
Distributor: Rialto Films
Runtime: 97 mins. Reviewed in Feb 2020
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A modern take on the Huckleberry Finn story, ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’ is a sweet and sensitive road movie loaded with great performances from its surprisingly stacked cast. Much of its appeal comes down to lead duo Shia LaBeouf and Zack Gottsagen, whose winning chemistry brings every scene that they share to charming life. This was the highest-grossing independent film in North America in 2019, and you can see why: you’ll leave the cinema with a smile on your face and warmth in your soul.
Zak (Gottsagen) is a young man with Down syndrome. As a ward of state, he is forced to live in a nursing home, despite being a quarter of the age of many of its residents. He longs to visit the wrestling school of his idol, an old school wrestler monikered the “Salt Water Redneck” (Thomas Haden Church), whose promotional videos he has watched to death on his old VHS tapes, but he’s not allowed out unsupervised. He has friends at the home, like his roommate Carl (a touching Bruce Dern), but his confinement nevertheless feels like a punishment. One evening, Zak stages a daring escape with Carl’s help, hightailing it into the night wearing nothing but his trunks.
After taking cover in an empty dinghy, Zak meets Tyler (LaBeouf), a fisherman on the run from nasty crabbers Duncan (John Hawkes, menacing) and Ratboy (rapper Yelawolf), whose equipment Tyler set on fire after an argument. With the police looking for an arsonist matching Tyler’s description, Tyler sees Zak as a way to fly under their radar on his journey to Florida (as well as a sturdy pack mule for his hulking rucksack). Zak see Tyler as a possible escort to the wrestling school (as well as a general mentor for the outside world).
Zak’s nursing home sends young staff member Eleanor (Dakota Johnson, personifying kindness) on his trail, while Tyler’s dangerous pursuers continue to track him along the river. Zak and Tyler’s low-key odyssey through lazy sun-kissed landscapes is punctuated by small-scale set pieces and curious interactions with a quirky cross-section of strangers, from a thoughtful but nervous gas station proprietor (Bruce Henderson) to a blind preacher (Wayne Dehart, hilarious) fixated on baptising those that cross his path, all scored with a gentle but vocative bluegrass score. Despite the real danger presented by Duncan and Ratboy, the plot never feels especially pressing; it instead meanders comfortably, borne along by its cheerful humour and the genuine feeling of companionship between its leads.
After some of his recent creative output, it’s no longer a surprise to see LaBeouf do some great emotive performing that radiates naturalism. He’s come a long way since his days anchoring the ‘Transformers’ franchise, and Tyler represents the latest entry in LaBeouf’s growing list of intense but uninhibited characters. Here, it’s his generosity as an actor that registers most strongly; when he shares the screen with Gottsagen, he gives so freely and draws such a winning performance from his co-star that it defies belief. Tyler is down on his luck but fundamentally principled, and nowhere is this clearer than in LaBeouf’s interactions with Gottsagen.
Gottsagen, a 35-year-old actor with Down syndrome who met the creative team behind ‘Falcon’ at a camp for actors with disabilities, is a wide open and honest presence on screen. LaBeouf engages him so naturally that their rapidly cemented bond never feels overly fast or saccharine. The character was written for Gottsagen and it shows, employing his natural comedic timing and surprising aptitude for physical performance. After Tyler and Zack land on the latter’s wrestling persona, the Peanut Butter Falcon of the title, Gottsagen gets a chance to act in the wrestling ring, and it’s to his credit that you’re both concerned for the character’s welfare yet impressed by his moves. As the titular figure, Gottsagen takes flight.
‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’ marks the very accomplished feature film debut of writing and directing duo Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz. They have assembled an impressive cast (Jon Bernthal and retired professional wrestlers Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Mick Foley also make appearances), presumably attracted by the astute writing and the feelgood nature of Gottsagen’s story, but their film also demonstrates a clarity of vision and a desire to work for its satisfying moments that independent cinema can lack. ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’ truly is the full package and it just might announce the same of Nilson and Schwartz.
Callum Ryan is an associate of the Australian Catholic Office for Film & Broadcasting.
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