It is likely going to be impossible to hide my bias here, so I’m going to be open about it from the get go. I have, since I first saw Mallrats in high school, been a massive fan of Kevin Smith. I have a shelf dedicated to Kevin Smith collectibles, signed photos, and more than one meet and greet under my belt. When I first heard about The 4:30 Movie, I counted the days. When the opportunity to review the movie came up, I accepted the screener in minutes. With The 4:30 Movie, Kevin has tackled one of my favourite genres, the coming-of-age story. I knew I would love the movie before I pressed play, and it didn’t disappoint. Now that I’ve gushed, what will follow will be my best attempt at an unbiased review, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Smith’s got a little over a decade on me when it comes to age. My teen years were set squarely in the 90s, but I’ve always been in love with the films of John Hughes… they are masterpieces. The 4:30 Movie could have easily been subtitled, “Where Smith meets Hughes.” I loved this movie the way that I love The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I can see it being considered just as iconic as they were. Being a throwback film, set in a time period that’s easily romanticized by those of us in our 40s and 50s, The 4:30 Movie is the perfect marriage of idealized 80s life, teen angst, and jokes about today. Every line of dialogue is carefully planned and crafted and it all ties together with a brilliance that could only come from Kevin Smith.
Even a perfectly written and directed film can have flaws. A film lives and dies by its cast and the cast of this film hits a homerun. Smith calls in everyone from his 3 decades of filmmaking to provide a star-studded supporting cast and puts some of them in outrageous costumes and roles, but they kill it, every one of them. Where the casting really shines, however, is the film’s fab four – Austin Zajur as Brian David, Nicholas Cirillo as Burny, Reed Northrup as Belly, and Siena Agudong as Melody Barnegat. While the three male leads were new to us, we recognized Agudong from No Good Nick. These four bring the movie home – Smith tossed them all perfect pitches and, one-by-one, they all stepped up and hit home-runs.
As the fab four were hitting it out of the park, that star-studded supporting cast that I mentioned really helped to shine a spotlight on them. Rachel Dratch and Jason Lee as Brian David’s parents give us a fantastic scene. Justin Long as Stank was almost unrecognizable, but completely memorable in his role and Genesis Rodriguez gave us one of the most poignant moments of the film. While there were a ton of cameos, my favourite “main story” supporting characters were definitely Kate Micucci as Melody’s mom, Sam Richardson as Major Murder, and Ken Jeong as Manager Mike. Richardson gives us a fantastic performance where we get to see both Major Murder’s wrestling persona and the man behind the persona, it was a very important scene to the story and Richardson made me forget that I was watching a movie with his performance. Ken Jeong, on the other hand, plays a role that only he could play. I’m not sure that anyone else could play an over-the-top movie theatre manager and still make it believable.
I realize, that I’ve written 4 paragraphs and I still haven’t told you what the film is about. Brian David, Burny, and Belly are setting out on a movie watching adventure. They intend to buy tickets to a single movie and then sneak from theatre to theatre to see all the films showing, even the R-rated ones they can’t get into. Brian David, however, decided to make it a date and invites Melody Barnegat, the love of his life, to the movies. When Melody says yes, she changes the course of their day, their friendships, and their lives. A this point, if you’ve seen a John Hughes film and you’ve seen a Kevin Smith film, you can probably imagine where this goes.
Since the film takes place at a movie theatre, you need films and you need trailers. This was one of my favourite aspects of the film. It reminded me of Grindhouse and the fake trailers that we got alongside Planet Terror and Death Proof. Just as many of those fake trailers became reality, I’m hoping these films get made. The film within the film gives us quite a few laughs – just wait until you see Diedrich Bader’s costume. The real star of the films within the film involves Harley Quinn Smith and Jennifer Schwalbach as nuns. I won’t spoil it, but if the film is ever made, I’d gladly go see it.
At times, The 4:30 Movie will make you laugh and it might even make you cry (thankfully not like Clerks III). It is a touching reminder of our youth combined with the perfect amount of “Kevin Smith-ness.” It is a way to look back on, as Bruce Springsteen once put it, our “glory days.” It is a reminder that our friends, our crushes, and our adventures made us who were are. For 87 minutes, we are transported from our middle-aged lives to a memory of what was and, for that, I say, “Thank you Kevin Smith.”
The 4:30 Movie will be released in select theatres on September 13, 2024.
The 4:30 Movie
Movie title: The 4:30 Movie
Movie description: Writer-director Kevin Smith presents his most personal film to date with this coming-of-age story — set in the summer of 1986 — that follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local cineplex. When one of the guys invites the girl of his dreams to see an R-rated film, all hilarity breaks loose, as a self-important theater manager (Ken Jeong) and teen rivalries interfere with his best-laid plans. Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Jason Biggs, and more contribute outrageous characters to this poignant comic valentine to moviegoing and the youth of the ’80s.
Date published: 2024-09-13
Director(s): Kevin Smith
Actor(s): Austin Zajur, Nicholas Cirillo, Reed Northrup, Siena Agudong, Betty Aberlin, Diedrich Bader, Jason Biggs, Rosario Dawson, Rachel Dratch, Ralph Garman, Jason Lee, Logic, Justin Long, Jason Mewes, Kate Micucci, Jenny Mollen, Adam Pally, Sam Richardson, Genesis Rodriguez, Jennifer Schwalbach, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Harley Quinn Smith, Ken Jeong
Genre: Comedy
Overall
5-
Overall
-
Cry Factor
-
Giggles & Grins
