When he remembered his sister and what it meant. The director of this family melodrama is 43-year-old Ross Katz, who deserves to say a little about him. Firstly, he was twice able to take the coveted Oscar statuette for the films In the Bedroom (2001) and Difficulties of Translation (2003), but not as the main director, but as a producer. In addition, he once again – in 2005 – produced the film by Sofia Coppola, director of “Difficulties of Translation”, the historical drama “Marie-Antoinette” with Kirsten Dunst in the title role. Later, already in 2009, Katz tried his hand at his debut directorial work - it was a military drama shot for television "Volunteers", where Kevin Bacon played the main role and received a Golden Globe for it. And in 2014, the year finally came the turn to shoot a feature film, and this film, in fact, was the family drama “Adult beginners”, which will be discussed in full below. And if we finish a short excursion about the biography of Ross Katz, then it should be mentioned that in 2016 another of his films was released, where he acted as a director, and it was “Choice”, at the moment the last film-screen adaptation of the novel by Nicholas Sparks.
So, “Adult Beginners” was conceived by actor Nick Kroll, who in the title role represented exactly himself and this desire came true – he plays a middle-aged man Jake, who suddenly began a black streak in life when his investment venture collapsed. All his friends turned away from him, the women did not need a beggar, and he even lost his apartment. And now, instead of a prosperous existence, he expects to move to the house of his sister, who is pregnant with her second child, and he has not maintained relations with her for almost two years. Jake thought it wouldn’t be long before things got better and his respectable life would return. But gradually Jake begins to realize that he has a family and the past was fabulous, but fake, and here the reality and he will have to make every effort to restore the relationship with his sister, her husband and the eldest child. A disillusioned Jake begins to turn into what can be called a sensitive and sincere person. For a good adaptation of his idea, Nick Kroll should thank two adapters: Jeff Cox and Liz Flahive, almost unknown writers, but for Adult Beginners they tried.
If we take into account the average rating of the film, then on the KP it is only 5.7 points at the moment from the calculation of votes of slightly more than half a thousand viewers' opinions. I don’t know, but in my humble opinion, this estimate is still a little understated. No, it should not be very high, but because of this score, many simply turn away from viewing, and in vain. To be honest, Adult Beginners is set according to the canons of the current American traditions, established in family relations, so only remotely can the film resemble something in common with our reality. But still, our people tend to fall into depression, when life unexpectedly gives a crack. And many people recover for a long time, if at all, but for this to happen, everyone needs the support of family, relatives and friends. In Jake's case, it's a creaking thing, but it still happens. Maybe you don’t feel much joy for Jake, but at the same time you understand that everyone should have a second chance and use them correctly. And if you really understand that the family of Jake is quite interesting action.
But again, I must add something here: for some reason, the most interesting thing to follow is not Nick Kroll, who so diligently portrayed himself as a man who began to change values, much better played by Australian Rose Byrne. I have seen many films with the participation of this actress, in many, I confess, she was not so convincing, and sometimes frankly disappointing, but her role in Adult Beginners is one of the best in my opinion, approximately on par with her performance in the film Goddess of 1967 (2000). Byrne did not invent anything, she only saturated her character, which changed from side to side, and she conveyed all this very vividly and truthfully. Her husband Rose Byrne was played by Bobby Cannavale. This is not the first time he plays husbands (or guys) who are far from a prestigious profession, and even something suggests that loyalty is not their stronghold (you can recall, for example, the film “Jasmine” (2013)), but still Bobby Cannavale fit well into the concept of “Adult Beginners”, and emotionally it even happened that he outplayed Nick Kroll, although he, let me remind you, played the main male role.
I will not, of course, persistently convince everyone that Adult Beginners is a movie for mandatory viewing, everyone has the right to choose what he likes more and I know that there are many domestic viewers who, with skepticism, and sometimes with sharp criticism, oppose purely American family dramas and melodramas tied to their mental values. But Adult Beginners is a good film for those who have already realized what family is (not only a husband or wife and children, but also parents, sisters and brothers). Well, once again to praise the performance of Rose Byrne in this picture, here you can find a clear confirmation that she is a good actress.
6 out of 10