Directed by Chandler Levack
Written by Chandler Levack
Starring: Isaiah Lehtinen, Alex Ateah, Dan Beirne
“I Like Movies” Film Review: Socially inept 17-year-old cinephile, Lawrence Kweller, gets a job at a video store in Burlington, Ontario where he forms a complicated friendship with his older female manager
There are few films out there that speak to me on a personal level quite like ‘I Like Movies’. From the premise to the location, it feels tailor-made for me and the time period I grew up in.
“I like Movies” Plot Synopsis
“I Like Movies” is centered around our main character Lawrence, a film-obsessed teenage boy in his last year of high school in 2003.
Residing in the charming city of Burlington, Ontario, he channels his creative energy into shooting home movies with his best and only friend Matt played by Percy Hynes White (best known for his recent portrayal of Xavier in the insanely popular Tim Burton’s Wednesday on Netflix).
Lawrence dreams of being done with high school and moving out of Burlington Ontario to attend film school at NYU. Though living with his single mother, the eye-watering $90,000 US tuition is out of the question. This forces him to get his first part-time job at a local big-chain video store.
There he meets his manager Alana (Romina D’Ugo) who he awkwardly crushes on and learns some life lessons from as well. As the school year approaches its end, the weight of real life has major effects on Lawrence, his relationships, and his dreams of leaving the country to pursue his film dreams.
Dramatic with Just Enough Funny
While the film has its funny moments, it’s really closer to a slice-of-life drama than a full-on comedy. The story is fully grounded in reality and not much about it is only for laughs. That being said, It still has its light-hearted moments and I laughed out in the theatre more than once.
I found a lot of the comedy wasn’t even in the dialogue but more so in how relatable Lawrence was. His home movies reminded me of my own childhood, running around the house with a clunky DV camcorder shooting bad movies with my friends and family.
I also love how he tries to express his love for art house films to the customers when all the store wants him to do is shill as many copies of Shrek as possible.
Going Back in Time With “I Like Movies”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film that so accurately brought me back to the mid-2000s the way this one did. ‘I Like Movies” is not only set 20 years ago but it feels like a movie that has been in the vault since 2003 in the best way possible. The way it’s shot with a 4:3 aspect ratio over the now traditional widescreen format is really a well-thought-out touch, as well.
Overall, I see a lot of myself in this character. Maybe not quite as socially awkward or as blatantly rude to my parents, but I definitely carried that same self-important attitude.
I was always laser-focused on my artistic endeavours which meant so much to me. I had that same pie-in-the-sky grand vision of becoming the next big thing – a dream that only becomes more grounded with the reality of adulthood.
In Conclusion
Isaiah himself is quoted in an interview with the director as describing “I Like Movies” as “the red-pilled Fabelmans” which is hilariously accurate. He did a fantastic job at walking the tightrope of being a pretentious and rude character and somehow simultaneously relatable.
I was very impressed with his acting and I’ll be keeping an eye out for whatever he does next, as well as the Burlington, Ontario-raised director/writer Chandler Levack.
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