Flipped

I’m going to create a new genre. I am going to label it, the “Personal Film”. A Personal Film is a low budget movie, usually nostalgic, that tells a story from a child’s perspective. It is often narrated by an adult, looking back at a pivotal time in their childhood, recounting a life changing moment or a time that formed their character. An example of this type of film is Liberty Heights, an early film of Adrien Brody and Ben Foster, or That Night starring C. Thomas Howell and Juliette Lewis. Another good one is The Sand Lot.
 
These Personal Films are often called coming of age dramas, but the reason that I think that Personal Film describes them better is that the success of the movie depends on the director’s ability to get you to connect personally with the material. If the story is told in such a way that you can identify with the activity, way of life, or emotion of the characters, then you are hooked. And when these films are done well, they are very memorable.
 
The best example of a Personal Film is Rob Reiner’s, Stand By Me. This small film struck a chord, and even though most of us have never experienced seeing a dead body or peeling leeches off of our private parts, we could identify with the friendships. It was those inane conversations, like who would win in a fight, or why some cartoon characters don’t wear pants that we all connected with. We’ve all experienced these unguarded exchanges in clubhouses, tree forts or hanging around the campfire. It is how we learn to reason and form our own opinions away from the influence of our parents. In these conversations we can argue or rebuff without fear of adult intervention or moralizing. It is for this reason why Stand By Me is a very personal film.
 
In Flipped, Rob Reiner tries once again to create a Personal Film, but this one is not nearly as successful as Stand By Me. Flipped tells the story of Juli and Bryce who meet when they are in second grade. Juli played by Madeline Carroll takes one look at Bryce as he is moving in across the street and her heart flips as she falls in love with his beautiful eyes. Byrce on the other hand, played by Callam McAuliffe is very annoyed by her constant attention. He becomes a joke at school and cannot escape her adoration. The situation however flips when they reach high school. Juli’s feelings cool towards Bryce when he lets her down at a critical moment. Whereas Bryce learns how to appreciate Juli and admire her virtues when Bryce learns to see Juli through his grandfather’s eyes.
 
The flipped theme is also carried out in the mode of story telling. Each event is told twice, once from Juli’s perspective, and then through Bryce’s. It shows how two people can be at the same place at the same time and see things completely different. It is an interesting approach, but it also slowed the story telling down. It also causes you to choose sides. Which character do you identify with more?
 
Another thing that affected my connection with the movie was the parents. Madeline Carroll and Callam McAuliffe came off so natural and their characters were nicely developed, whereas the adults oftentimes came off as stereotypical or cartoonish. Anthony Edwards (ER) was very unlikable. I couldn’t relate to him at all. And Rebecca De Mornay (Risky Business) was almost unrecognizable as a 60’s housewife. Aidan Quinn (Jonah Hex) had some nice moments as a sensitive and understanding father, but when you compare him to Anthony Edwards it was like they are in two different films. Penelope Anne Miller (Men of a Certain Age) looked like she just walked out of an episode of The Waltons. She completely reminded me of Mary Beth McDonough. I was even doing the math in my head to see if the actress could have been her.
 
Overall, I enjoyed Flipped. It is a sweet story with some nice life lessons. John Mahoney (Fraiser) as the grandfather becomes the catalyst in both children’s lives and teaches them to see the world differently by noticing things about them that everyone else was too busy to see. If anything this film shows us that there is a least two sides to every story and that when we make judgements it is because we are only seeing one side. As a Personal Film I think that Flipped missed its mark. The focus should have been on the children and their lives. When it ventured off to the parents and their issues, the story lost momentum, although the parents were being misjudged too. Flipped has a good message, I just wished that it was stronger story telling device. The lessons are worth learning.

Rating: Rent It A story about seeing things from both sides