Kicking and Screaming (1995)

As a college student hoping to never enter the real world, Noah Baumbach’s directorial debut speaks directly to me. A Generation X comedy, Kicking and Screaming, follows the four postgraduate friends contemplating the next steps. Grover’s plans are pulled out from underneath him as his girlfriend decides to study in Prague, Otis finds himself incapable of flying to a Milwaukee grad school only one time zone away, Max cannot find anything better to do than crossword puzzles and sleeping with Skippy’s girlfriend and Skippy, completely lost, returns to school for another year but cannot bring himself to do any of the work. Chet, a tenth year permanent student, only imparts paraphrased wisdom upon the four lost postadolescents as a roaming camera smoothly captures the actors’ witty conversations; Baumbach has identified influence in the loose and experimental Jean Renoir. Lacking a strong narrative web, Kicking and Screaming relies more on the characters and subtleties which is evident in Criterion’s supervised release that includes a crossword puzzle of notable quotes from the film. The connective tissue of this film is the relationship between Grover and his girlfriend, Jane. Suitably, the film uses five strategically placed flashbacks instigated by black and white stills of Jane which prompts the action. The final scene, stylistically intact with the rest of the film, resolves the narrative beautifully as each enters the world, kicking and screaming.

8 - steven