An uncle learns about parenting
Johnny is a man adrift, floating through his life. He comes from a broken family, and he deals with that through distance, not engagement. He lives alone, has no significant relationships, and his connection between himself and the rest of humanity is his work.
He appears to be a long-form radio journalist (think NPR), and his current project is interviewing elementary school children in cities across America, gathering their thoughts about the future of humanity. Many are optimistic, though he’s not as much. One gets the impression that if Johnny didn’t interview people for a living, he might not talk to anyone.
Johnny, who lives in New York, has a contentious relationship with his sister in Los Angeles, Viv, probably for many reasons, but lately because they clashed over their dying mother’s medical care. But when Viv’s estranged husband, who lives in Oakland, has a mental crisis, she flies north and Johnny is left to care for his 9-year-old nephew, Jesse.
That’s the set-up for Mike Mills’ latest family masterpiece, “C’mon C’mon,” which features Joaquin Phoenix in one of his most engaging and sympathetic roles; Gaby Hoffmann, perfect as Viv; and a standout, multilayered performance from 11-year-old Woody Norman as Jesse.
The Berkeley-born Mills, whose wife is filmmaker Miranda July, works sparingly, but he
makes every film count. His movies “Beginners” (2010) and “20th Century Women” (2016) also expertly delve into complicated family affairs, and he has said that his latest is based on his feelings as a first-time parent. (He and July had a child, Hopper, in 2014.)
Mills films in blackand-white, all the better to accentuate Phoenix’s rumpled look — a grayish stubble-beard, unruly hair in need of a cut, belly spilling over his belt — as a man letting himself go. The monochrome style
also highlights the urban beauty not only of New York, Oakland and Los Angeles, but also Detroit and New Orleans, where Johnny goes to interview children.
At first, Johnny thinks it’ll be fun to pal around with his nephew and even teaches him how to use sound equipment. But being essentially a parent and caregiver to a child is a whole lot different from interviewing one. As the full weight of the responsibility begins to sink in, Johnny doesn’t know how to handle it.
Jesse has emotional problems — who wouldn’t, being in this family? — and Johnny suddenly realizes distance isn’t going to work anymore. He must engage. And it’s going to be imperfectly messy.
“Nobody knows what they’re doing,” Viv says about parenting. “You just have to keep doing it.”
When talking with children for his project (real children were interviewed, charmingly, for the film), Johnny starts with the question: “When you think about the future, how do you imagine it will be?”
He never asks himself that question, but Mills’ stance is obvious. To imagine the future, one must consider the past and be active in the present.
“C’mon C’mon” is about the present, and how precious it truly is.