Educating Louisa – Part Two: Short Term 12
When the Fellows and Associates team hired Louisa, it was on the basis that she was an intelligent, cultured and interesting individual – qualities that she exuded during her interview. Unfortunately, what they didn’t know is that Louisa’s ‘films viewed’ portfolio was disappointingly unrefined. Pete Fellows has therefore taken on the role of teacher of all things cinema, and will assign a different ‘must see’ film each month for Louisa to watch and review, for both her own education and your reading pleasure.
Short Term 12 – A thought provoking and powerful indie film with plenty of purpose but a lack of plot.
The factors that contribute to the overall success of this film are a combination of intelligent script writing by director Destin Daniel Cretton, plausible performances by stars Brie Larson and John Gallagher, Jr., and a group of truly remarkable and ingeniously cast child actors. Set in a group home facility for challenging children, the subject matter is undoubtedly demanding and could have quite easily resulted in an uncomfortable viewing experience. However, perhaps due to Cretton’s own experience of working in a similar facility, he has managed to strike an authentic balance between hardship, compassion and humour.
At the start of the film, Cretton introduces lead characters Grace (Brie Larson) and Mason (John Gallagher, Jr.) who run the home and who are subsequently revealed to be in an enviably loving relationship. Joined by their co-worker Jessica and new starter Nate, they share an amusing story about a past interaction between Mason and one of the residents. This particular resident also happens to factor heavily in the final scene, providing an interesting circle of events. As Mason’s tale draws to a close, a skinny young resident storms from the building behind in a dramatic and almost heroic escape attempt before being tackled to the ground. It is as this point that you are thrown full force into the escapades of group home life; your attention is fixed and remains as such thereon.
Overall the film offers a perfectly synchronised exploration of sub-plots, mostly centred around Grace’s gentle bond with the children (in particular Jayden, with whom she shared a similarly distressing upbringing), and her beautifully tender yet at times rocky relationship with Mason. For me, the most defining, poignant and tear inducing moments of film should be credited to actor Keith Stanfield who plays Marcus, the oldest resident of the home. His mesmerising rap which explores his insufferable upbringing at the hands of his mother, as well as his attempt to take his own life in response to his impending leave date, are both devastating and significant at the same time.
In the interest of objectiveness, I feel inclined to offer some negatives. Firstly, the lack of a traditional ‘plot’ so to speak could be looked upon critically. The film is better described as a snap shot of life rather than a story in the traditional sense – this gave it a documentary style feel in places. For me (a bit of a documentary buff) this wasn’t really a problem. Documentaries serve to raise awareness and to educate and that’s exactly what Short Term 12 does. Another (be it minor) annoyance that I encountered, but which was by no means enough to dampen my overall enjoyment, was the lack of character development associated with the co-worker Jessica. She was always present, had a reasonable input with regards to dialogue, but I never even caught her name. I would have preferred to learn more about her (or in fact less). Instead, she floated somewhere pointlessly in the middle.
I have to admit, when Pete gave me another ‘critically acclaimed’ film to review, I anticipated disappointment. I feared that like Citizen Kane it would fail to live up to my expectations. What’s more, in the past I have looked upon the term ‘indie’ with scepticism, as I associate it somewhat with hipsters and Coldplay. Thankfully my fears were misplaced, since what ‘indie’ means for Short Term 12 is something different entirely. Independent of Hollywood style masquerades and its overzealous use of special effects, the touching subject matter and remarkable performances are really able to shine through. Overall, the film is without doubt worth a watch.
Next time, Louisa will be reviewing classic horror film ‘Halloween’. She thinks she may have watched it as a child (which is rather disturbing), but she can’t quite remember.