It certainly means well

Tyler’s initial frustration with Zak evolves into admiration and eventually brotherly love — Tyler is still dealing with the loss of his brother, Mark (a briefly appearing Jon Bernthal) — and he becomes protective of a good soul who is called by more than one miserable person “a retard.” Tyler chooses to train Zak before letting him loose with a bunch of other aspiring wrestlers. This leads to some nice moments, but, simply put, these scenes should be more affecting than they are. “The Peanut Butter Falcon” picks up some steam when Eleanor, having already encountered Tyler, inevitably finds them. Although she initially insists on immediately taking Zak back to the facility, Eleanor is swayed by Tyler to join them on their journey through a part of the American South. (The film was shot in and around Savannah, Georgia, during a hot summer, and it does give the tale some personality.)

Also pepping things up a bit is the eventual appearance of Church, even if the Salt Water Redneck isn’t still the force in wrestling Zak believes him to be. LaBeouf (“Borg vs McEnroe”) turns in a solid performance, but we’ve seen so many characters so much like Tyler in so many movies over the years, that his work just doesn’t stand out from the crowd. And Johnson, so unimpressive in “Fifty Shades of Grey” and its two sequels, is a bit better here. Her Eleanor is entirely relatable — her motherly love for Zak is very sweet — but Johnson still offers moments that just fall flat, as if she’s just checked out briefly. And then there’s Gottsagen, who makes it so easy to root for Zak. The character is so enthusiastic that while you find yourself agreeing with Eleanor that, given a couple of variables involving Zak, he shouldn’t be on this particular journey, but you, too, wouldn’t have the heart to crush his dream. As “The Peanut Butter Falcon” builds to its mixed bag of a climax, it introduces minor characters portrayed like real onetime wrestlers Jake Roberts and Mick Foley, casting that gives the movie that little extra something, even if it’s not enough Ultimately, “The Peanut Butter Falcon” — which, to be fair, did win the 2019 Audience Award for Narrative Spotlight at the SXSW Film Festival —doesn’t have a whole lot more than good intentions and a good story behind it. If nothing else, though, it allows us to make the acquaintance of Gottsagen, which is really nice.

ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS PHOTOS

Now. PG-13 for thematic content, language throughout, some violence and smoking. 1 hour, 38 minutes. In “The Peanut Butter Falcon,” Zack Gottsagen portrays Zak, who, like the actor himself, has Down syndrome. Zak wants to become a professional wrestler.