On her second journey as director, Buehler tells a story of teenagers with better ideas than decisions.
Moxie (United States / 2021). Director: Amy Poehler. Cast: Hadley Robinson, Lauren Tsai, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Nico Hiraja, Sydney Park, Josephine Langford, Clark Gregg, JJ Tota, Ike Barenholtz, Amy Poehler, and Marcia Jay Harden. Screenplay: Tamara Chistna and Dylan Mayer, for Jennifer Mathieu’s novel. Photography: Tom Magill. Music: Mac Macaugan. Duration: 111 minutes. Available on Netflix from Wednesday, March 3.
Between the turn of the last century and the beginning of this, Amy Buehler and her friend Tina Fey formed one of the most exciting and creative creative duos of the modern era. Saturday Night Live. Much of the parts signed by the duo (who just led the Golden Globes) revolve around gender issues, a theme found at Heavy girls – who was by chance Fey as a screenwriter and Poehler in a supporting role – and that now appears again high in the lead in Moxie, The comedian’s second foray into feature film directing yet Between wine and vinegar (2019).
pointing to Heavy Girls / Medium Girls (2004) is inevitable, as both are powerful teen heroes and ready to destroy sexual stereotypes. The difference, however, is in accuracy and brilliance to convey a point of view to cinema and the world: Heavy girls The idea of the “weird” girl who wanted to fit in with the “popular” girl and befriend her was an excuse to turn the banalities of female acting in high school movies as a means, into Moxie Everything is straightforward and straightforward, a stick and a bag whose characters are used as mere carriers of values.
Based on Jennifer Matteo’s novel, Moxie It stars Vivian (Hadley Robinson), a 16-year-old who is fed up with high school authorities, led by Principal Shelley (Marcia Jay Harden), and does little to twist the mainstream masculinity. It can be said that they help maintain it. Not only do girls have to endure the daily harassment of the most popular boy in school, they also face penalties whose standards vary according to the gender of the person committing the crime.
In an informal conversation with her mother (Buhler herself), she said that in her youthful days she dreamed of an end to patriarchy, a memory that inspires Vivian to write, print and distribute a fanzine as she narrates the details of the school from a perspective. This is not good at administrative leadership or in some classmates. As those pages reveal dark secrets, Vivienne grapples with the jagged edges of adolescence. Or rather, to the roughness of films targeting teenagers.
The film suggests typical situations (romantic adventures with a visibly disintegrated boy, a fight with a best friend, rivalries that kicked off with the arrival of a new student, and fears of a future university) with an overt and outspoken gender appearance that makes all its elements – including the cast with all of the minorities represented. Duly – its only job is to validate their hypothesis. The result is a film that is much more interesting in its approach – which has little and nothing new as new – than its implementation. Poehler, a fierce comedian, deserves a better scenario.
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