Brie Larson is the most recent Best Actress winner and well deserved after her performance in Room. Not too long ago, on Maltin on Movies, Leonard Maltin and Baron Vaughn discussed the movie Short Term 12, which has 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, and me and my wife decided to watch it on Netflix.
Grace (Larson) is a twenty-something supervising staff member of a group home working along side her boyfriend, Mason (John Gallagher, Jr.), when Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever) arrives in the group home things get more complex for Grace.
Larson’s performance in this film is great. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses. The chemistry she has with the entire cast in this film speaks volumes of her ability to work with people. I think she is the best on screen cryer and there are a few scenes in this film where she earns that title more.
The entire cast is actually really great, whether Nate (Rami Malek) freaking out or Jessica (Stephanie Beatriz) informing Grace of the night’s news, the dialogue always feels real and organic. Marcus (Keith Stanfield) has an exchange with Mason where he raps for him and the lyrics are extremely revealing of his backstory and his problems. It was a great way to give exposition without it feeling unnatural.
Destin Daniel Cretton is the writer/director of the film and I’m definitely interested in seeing I am Not a Hipster and whatever else he makes. The cinematography in the film is solid and makes use of the tight quarters of the group home.
I definitely connect with movies that depict people trying to help children. There are scenes in this film that really hit hard on an emotional level. I care about all of the kids in this movie, and while there are several who don’t get much screen time I found myself wondering what their stories were. It made me reflect on my own students. Do any of them have similar problems that the kids in the film were going through?
I’ve really come to love indie movies. The stories are small and often has some of the best characters. I know that’s not a revolutionary idea that I just posed, but it’s one thing to hear others say it and another to realize it yourself. I believe that Short Term 12 is a Solid Movie.
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