The “slacker” movie is a mainstay of our theaters. The underachiever or procrastinator is thrown into a crazy or life changing scenario, usually with comedic consequences. Think Bill and Ted, Pineapple Express, Cheech and Chong, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, or perhaps the granddaddy of them all, The Big Lebowski. What do all these films have in common? The leads are male. Laggies offers up a novel take on the slacker movie with the protagonist being female.
THE MOVIEMegan (Keira Knightley) is a twenty-something woman, content with working mundane positions within her father’s company and in a settled relationship with her high school boyfriend. Around her, friends are advancing in their careers, having babies, and getting married. At one such event, she catches her father cheating on her mother, and her boyfriend makes an attempt to propose to her. Fleeing from her life and responsibilities, she crosses paths with Annika (Chloë Grace Moretz), a teenager currently dealing with her parents divorcing and other life issues that come with high school. Sensing they are kindred spirits, the two become friends, with Megan staying in Annika’s house to avoid dealing with the threat of her life changing. Annika’s father Craig (Sam Rockwell) soon figures out Megan isn’t just another friend of his daughter’s, and rather then kick her out, takes pity on her plight. This allows Megan and Annika time to get closer, as well as time to help each other through their issues.
While it sounds cloyingly convoluted, Laggies is a pretty enjoyable, if lightweight, affair. First-time screenwriter Andrea Seigel turns in a script that is well paced and delivers nicely fleshed out characters touching on themes of youth, adulthood, and the inevitable responsibility that comes with it. As a slacker comedy, it doesn’t go completely into “bad teen” territory; it’s pretty good-natured as opposed to anything seedier or more corrupt. It’s more in the vein of a coming of age drama/comedy, where the coming of age happens a lot later than it should.
Where Laggies grates most, aside from its attempt to coin a new term for a “female slacker,” is in its retreading of tired themes from the slacker genre. Even with its female-centric approach, it is exasperating to once again be presented with a disenchanted person who is in a great position in life but is unaware of it and has every opportunity to change their fate. It is hard to connect with this growing portion of the population, and films of this type have hit a saturation point.
While it does provide a slight twist on the norm by having a female in the slacker role, any adventurousness and originality opened up by this angle is abandoned with the film inevitably relying on the usual tropes and a conveniently neat little ending too. There was a chance to be a little bold here, something deeper, but instead it meanders into a average romantic comedy. Considering the considerable talents of the cast, it all feels very lightweight and like a bit of a waste. Knightley and Rockwell are standouts and fill their roles with a genuine and relatable warmth, but it’s insufficient to elevate the project. The characters and actors help keep things interesting, but the story itself is the weak link here.
THE PACKAGEThe film looks pretty great, a sharp transfer with good detail and vibrant colors.
Special features are well represented with a number of deleted scenes and an audio commentary with director Lynn Shelton. There are also two featurettes with good content. Lagging On with Lynn Shelton interviews cast and crew about the film and script as well as showing off behind the scenes footage.Shooting Seattle: The Look of Laggies goes into depth looking at the selection and use of Seattle as the location for the film. Fans of the movie will be happy with the package.
THE BOTTOM LINELaggies offers a different take on the slacker genre, and the female talent in front of and behind the camera give a interesting angle on the premise of shirking responsibility. While the characters are interesting, with good work by the primary cast — notably Knightley and the ever-likeable Rockwell — the plot ends up treading a familiar path. An opportunity to do something fresh is forsaken, and something a little safer and predictable is the result. Likeable enough, but the irony of a film about slacking off being so lackadaisical is not lost on this viewer.
Laggies is available on Blu-ray from 10th February, 2015.