Adult Life Skills

Greetings again from the darkness. Each of us deals with grief in our own way, and often it's even more challenging to help a grieving loved one. Loss and grief are at the core of writer-director Rachel Tunnard's feature length film developed from her award winning short, EMOTIONAL FUSEBOX (2014). When first we meet Anna, she is creating a space-oriented home video using aluminum foil and her thumbs. Yes, Anna is an adult - mere days from her 30th birthday. She's not the type to live in her mom's basement ... no, instead she lives in the cluttered garden shed in her mom's backyard. The play on words for the shed clues us in to Anna's quirky personality (as if the foil spaceship and thumb faces hadn't already done so). The Anna we see currently has no place for humor in her life. Anna is struggling with the grief associated with losing her twin brother - a brother she was extremely close to. She's challenged daily by the fine line between sorrow and depression, and is regularly late to her job at an outdoor camp for kids. Her morning routine includes drying her clothes in the microwave and bickering with her mother (Lorraine Ashbourne) over finding a boyfriend and new place to live. Mom has demanded Anna move out of the shed by her birthday. Others in Anna's life include her grandmother (Eileen Davies), Anna's close friend Fiona (Rachael Deering), and local real estate agent Brendan (Brett Goldstein) who may or may not be on the spectrum, is constantly refuting assumptions that he is gay, and undoubtedly has an unrequited crush on Anna. Each of these folks tries in their own way to pull Anna from her funk and get her back to living. Surprisingly, the turn occurs when she is forced to look after a neighbor boy named Clint when his mother gets rushed to the hospital. Clint is an odd kid who wears cowboy attire and proclaims his desire to be like Anna ... and they are more similar than she would care to admit initially. Jodie Whitaker plays Anna and newcomer Ozzy Myers is Clint. Young Mr. Myers excels in his role, never going over-the-top with his offbeat tendencies. Ms. Whitaker ("Doctor Who") first charmed us on screen with her role in VENUS (2006) and she proves yet again what an accomplished actress she is ... likable and relatable. Here she turns an arrested development 30 year old hermit into someone we pull for. The film is filled with awkward interactions, each grounded in reality. Of course, there is really nothing cute or charming about a 30 year old who hasn't yet grown up, but slack and understanding is due here because of the grief. And it's difficult to name another film character who could count mole hills daily and make it seem natural. Just remember that when a kid says they want to be like you, take it seriously - even if it's because you are sad and lonely. Ms. Tunnard's film is a bittersweet comedy that's not too bitter, not too sweet, and not overly funny. It's simply a fine little indie movie with a terrific performance from a talented actress.

Adult Life Skills is a small but great film. It is led by Jodie Whittaker in a great performance (though she is BAFTA worthy in Journeyman) and has a strong supporting cast. I liked the cinematography a lot and the script was touching, funny, genuine, and emotional. I loved it. 9 out of 10.

Anna (Jodie Whittaker) is stagnant approaching 30. She has been living in her mother's garden shed for the last 18 months. She makes internet videos which she used to make with her late twin brother Billy. Her mother Marion is frustrated trying evict her out of the shed. Anna works at a children day camp with her friend Fiona and Brendan who has a crush on her. Clint is a peculiar boy who doesn't fit in with the other kids. When his mother is hospitalized, Anna is tasked with caring for the boy. This is a standard stunted adulthood dramedy. It has some fun with the very appealing Jodie Whittaker. There is a functional romantic component but the male lead is not that charismatic. I wonder if it would be more compelling to lose the sputtering romance in favor of the kiddie relationship. The movie also introduces Billy rather late in the movie. Overall, the central appeal is the charismatic Whittaker and she drives this with a comedic charm.

Is Adult Life Skills perfect? No. But is it entertaining, endearing, and does it boast a beautiful performance from Jodie Whittaker and strong supporting cast? Oh yes it does. Whittaker deserved every ounce of that BIFA Nomination for Best Actress. While the film isn't perfect, I don't see why it has a 6.2 out of 10. It is much better than that.

The movie is at its best when Anna and Clint are together. Clint is quite appealing, from the time he solves his class murder mystery by saying Anna is alive, so there's no murder. I should point out that kids Clint's age should not watch this movie. There is so much bad language bleeped out (with the character's mouth blurred) that sometimes it is hard to tell what is going on. Brendan is quite appealing and you want him and Anna together, if they can be.' And early in the movie something has been found the name of which can't be mentioned, and it cannot be shown either. So will Anna get her life straightened out? I can say this much. There is one development that makes a big impression on Anna, and on us. I would say the ending, too, is satisfying. This is one of those low-key examples of British comedy. I've seen laugh-out-loud comedy made by Brits, but this isn't that. For someone with my taste, it's not that easy to enjoy. However, Jodie Whittaker is appealing in her way. She's just more of a challenge than the cute perky type I'm used to. Pretty much everyone does a good job acting. I've mentioned Ozzy Myers as Clint. One effective scene has little or no audio from the actual video, where everything moves slowly and Anna is confronted by this wacko dressed for diving in a dance club, and she runs away frightened.. In a later scene, I realize she is seeing Billy, because she sees him and no one else does. The music is mostly depressing folk or folk rock. Hearing "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake was encouraging until I actually heard the song and realized it was the same, only with synthesizers instead of guitar. Then when guitars are introduced, the song is just loud. If you are the type who likes poetry readings and indie films and criticizes anything too commercial, I think you'll like this. That's just not me.

I picked this up at the library because I only knew Jodie Whittaker from Doctor Who, and I wanted to see her in another context. This film is touching and funny, and I like it. The only problem I had was understanding the dialogue. I watch British television shows and movies frequently, like 2 or 3 per week, and usually have no problem with the various regional accents. These people I had much difficulty understanding. I'm thankful that I was watching it on disc, and could run it back to repeat; I did that with about 1/4 of the dialogue. Of course this had to be one of the few DVDs which does not have subtitles available. It needs them.

I sought out this film because I found out that Jodie Whittaker would be the next Doctor on Doctor Who. It's such a genuine film that it really strikes you. Jodie Whittaker gives a great performance. She's funny and heartbreaking. The rest of the cast is very good as well. Loved the script- it was touching, down to earth, and it felt real. 9/10.

This film is well made, beautifully shot, and superbly acted. But I feel the message is ultimately misguided. The film seems to side with the idea that you can, and should, force people out of their grief. It also seems to support very narrow ideas about what adulthood means.

This film is almost instantly recognisable as a film that has been made since the choice, not accident, but choice, of some directors and editors, if not also producers, to perpetuate female characters' supposed gender-dependent vulnerabilities, as-distinct-from mens'-vulnerabilities,.. ... it is therefore both sexist and tiring, and if i were to go off on a tirade about it, bereating both male and female perpetuators of the myths of women's and men's ... whichevers... it'd start with 2 points, but i'll stop there, or this review would go on for an hour. 1 regressives/ppl who've regressed mmm ... 'over something', can regress into states that (at least) used to, have anxiety,.. inseparably associated with whatever irrational behaviour/states they get into, but they don't necessarily, and depending on whether or not the original external perceived-threats are still there or not,.. only SOMEtimes, have the same states, particularly,.. so while many of the in-the-wider-world concerns she had would still be external, and THEY, would cause her anxiety,.. a film that then spent TIME, cinematically, and directionally,.. and visually,.. on THOSE things, that caused what they cause in her,.. ...by constrast, a film that band-aids a SOURCE OF ANXIETY, by having a life-drama ... when clearly the film concept/s are MEANT, to be moreso about / moreso contrasting what have not become established skills in her,.. ... is... pffffffff. Could've gone somewhere that would stick to the actual psychology of regression,.. ... but no. Another senstionalist ended-up-a-turd in a shoe, for some perceiving sentimentality at Canne / wherever,.. COMPLETELY missing the point, about what to NOT, do, about mental health, so as to both expose it for what it really is,.. and to also retain your credibility / long-term retention of the film. ---------- Instead, the more people RE-watch this film, i have no doubt, the more they will score it lower, it not much lower, the subsequent times around, until they get sick of it. oh, yes, and of course, the unnecessary someone-else's-interpretation- of-what-talking-to-someone-imaginary, neccessarily means. GROW UP, director/producer/acting/editors, of this one. there is a single word, that can apply to many if not most, supposedly 'enough', to go straight to accusations of hallucinations... REHERSAL. many simply PRETEND, that something is there, to think things through, when they are alone, or to work-through, their own predictions of others' behaviour , you might be familiar with it,.. its called ACTING OUT ROLES. ------------- does tend to happen in films a bit,.. that. Helen Razer... where are you, you lusty-beast. destroy, this film.

I wanted to like this more, I loved the characters, what little we learn about them. So I guess the acting is the only strong point: they sold me on the characters but the plot never tells us anything about them. Needed either much more story or much more character development. As it is, just a really thin, though promising story. :(