PHOENIX RISES TO A NEW CHALLENGE

JOKER STAR SHOWS HIS SOFTER SIDE IN THE GORGEOUSLY SHOT C’MON C’MON

C’mon C’mon

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann, Woody Norman Director: Mike Mills

Duration: 1 h 48 m Available: In Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver, and wider on Dec. 3.

How many questions do you ask in a day? You up? Want anything? Who was that? Going to a movie? Which one? Have you seen the trailer? Are we there yet? What do you mean you don’t want popcorn? It’s HOW much?

We’re an inquisitive species, no doubt, and that curiosity is front and centre in the latest from writer/director Mike Mills (Beginners, 20th Century Women). Joaquin Phoenix stars as Johnny, a radio journalist working on a project in which he quizzes young people on their thoughts about the world. This involves frequent trips across the U.S., a task made easier by the fact that he’s single and childless.

But Johnny’s life takes a turn for the interesting when his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffman), has to travel from her home in Los Angeles to Oakland to check in on her estranged husband (Scoot Mcnairy), who’s going through a rough patch with his bipolar disorder. Johnny, perhaps still stinging from past rows with his sister, offers to look after her son while she’s away.

That would be Jesse (Woody Norman), a nine-year-old bundle of energy and, if we’re being honest, neuroses. Among his peculiarities is a game he likes to play in which he’s an orphan who’s just been adopted by his mother. Viv indulges these shenanigans. Johnny has no time for them, but eventually learns that, as in any relationship, the child-caregiver dynamic requires concessions from both parties. Mills has always been a personal filmmaker; the previously mentioned movies were inspired by his parents. C’mon C’mon is no exception, and it’s no surprise to learn that he and spouse Miranda July have a child of just about Jesse’s age. As such, it’s likely to resonate most strongly with others in the same demographic.

But even if you’re far to one side or the other of the procreative divide, the film has much to recommend it. It’s gorgeously shot in black and white, a bit of a trend these days, given the recent Belfast, the upcoming Tragedy of Macbeth and portions of The French Dispatch. And it features a fine turn by Phoenix, bouncing back from a triumvirate of violent characters (in Joker, The Sisters Brothers and You Were Never Really Here), to show a softer side we haven’t really seen since 2013’s Her.

The film also presents a reading list, a feature I can’t recall ever seeing in a movie. Titles will pop up on the screen between scenes, including Angela Holloway’s The Bipolar Bear Family; Jacqueline Rose’s essay collection Mothers; An Incomplete List of the What the Cameraperson Enables, by cinematographer Kirsten Johnson; and Claire A. Nivola’s children’s book Star Child. But if the film leaves you with questions — and what good film doesn’t? — then it also offers places to find answers. ★★★★

VVS FILMS Academy Award-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix affectingly pairs up with a little boy, his nephew, played by Woody Norman in C’mon C’mon, an intimate look at family and relationships by director Mike Mills, whose films tend to be highly personal in nature.