In the charming and authentic C’mon C’mon, Joaquin Phoenix plays a well-intentioned, emotionally intelligent guy who gets an immersion course in parenting.
Phoenix plays Johnny, an NPR-style radio journalist whose current project is interviewing children, getting their views on their world, their parents and our future. Johnny is really good with his subjects, but he is not responsible for the 24/7 welfare of these kids.
His Los Angeles sister Viv (Gaby Hoffman) has to deal with an out-of-town emergency, so she asks Johnny tocome from New York and watch her nine-year-old son Jesse (Woody Norman) for a couple days. The emergency becomes extended, and Johnny takes Jesse back home to New York with him, and then on an assignment in New Orleans.
Fortunately, Jesse enjoys using Johnny’s professional sound equipment for recording the ambient sounds of Venice Beach’s Ocean Front Walk, a skate park, the bustling NYC streets, Central Park and a New Orleans street parade.
But Jesse’s life has been disrupted, and Johnny learns that parenting a kid whose life has been disrupted is hard. Jesse may be just a kid, but he’s more than a match for Johnny.
C’mon C’mon is written and directed by Mike Mills, who makes a feature film every five or so years: 2005’s Thumbsucker, 2010’s Beginners (Christopher Plummer won a Supporting Actor Oscar) and 2016’s 20th Century Women (Mills was nominated for a screenwriting Oscar). I wish his movies came more often. Mills is interested in making films for adults about inter-family issues.
Joaquin Phoenix is utterly believable as this well-intentioned and sympathizing character. Phoenix has never been more relatable. One critic had even described him as “endearing” (Joaquin Phoenix?) and, surprisingly, that adjective fits.
Woody Norman, a kid absolutely brimming with personality, plays Jesse.
Gaby Hoffman is excellent in a far less neurotic role than the ones she often gets; her Viv is a solidly competent working mom who is highly-stressed and then even more highly-stressed.
C’mon C’mon is playing in theaters.