Cmon cmon Review: An Understated Study of Understanding

Joaquin Phoenix draws tears as a stunted radio journalist in Cmon Cmon

Joaquin Phoenix and Woody Norman in Cmon Cmon

Within recent years, stories of broken men being healed by a child has become nearly a cliche. The Last of Us, Logan, God of War, and many others have made this once unique narrative commonplace. However, I’m happy to say that Mike Mills’ Cmon Cmon avoids the carefully laid out beats of this, by now, somewhat overdone premise, resulting in a quiet, heartfelt story with an inconsistent level of subtlety.

Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) is a timid radio journalist in the midst of a project where he interviews children around the country. While in Detroit, his somewhat estranged sister, Viv (Gaby Hoffman), calls. Johnny offers to watch her son, Jesse (Woody Norman), who’s just as emotionally stunted as our protagonist (but much louder) while Viv cares for her husband suffering from bipolar disorder.

Although the plot rarely evolves past this simple premise, it never needs to. The relationship between Johnny and Jesse is believable, and when paired with the interviews of other children for Johnny’s documentary, I often wondered if any of this film was scripted. This realism is perfectly complimented by a black and white presentation and subtle cinematography. The film is often shot in wides and mediums, capturing large amounts of space with the characters getting lost in frame. There is a world outside of the characters that is captured with this wide framing, which adds to the believability of the story. For the more intimate moments characters will be framed within door ways, forcing them to share spaces with each other. The camera work is subtle, which reflects the understated nature of the story that makes this emotional journey both believable and effective.

The plot is one of genuinely nice people helping each other and healing because of it. Although it sounds simple, I appreciate how it goes beyond the conventional idea of a gruff old man learning the value of life from an innocent child. Rather, both Johnny and Jesse struggle with understanding their emotions. Instead of the child making the parent perfect, both parties become more whole by understanding and embracing imperfection.

This theme is at times both heightened and bogged down by the children’s interviews. At times the movie’s brilliant subtlety is shattered by children spouting the exact themes of the film at the viewer. Other times Johnny will read a book practically telling the audience what to think, resulting in him feeling more like a plot device than a human. Jesse will say a line, no matter how unnatural, purely for narrative and thematic development. This by no means ruins the movie, but sticks out when present because of how quietly nuanced the rest of the film is.

It is this subtlety that makes the film beautiful, and its shattering of conventions within this typically cliche premise that brings it home. Add stellar performances from all involved, and this seemingly plotless movie becomes an almost transformative journey spent with characters that never fail to entertain, motivate, and inspire.