Adult Life Skills (2016)

Anna (Jodie Whittaker) is stagnant approaching 30. She has been living in her mother's garden shed for the last 18 months. She makes internet videos which she used to make with her late twin brother Billy. Her mother Marion is frustrated trying evict her out of the shed. Anna works at a children day camp with her friend Fiona and Brendan who has a crush on her. Clint is a peculiar boy who doesn't fit in with the other kids. When his mother is hospitalized, Anna is tasked with caring for the boy.This is a standard stunted adulthood dramedy. It has some fun with the very appealing Jodie Whittaker. There is a functional romantic component but the male lead is not that charismatic. I wonder if it would be more compelling to lose the sputtering romance in favor of the kiddie relationship. The movie also introduces Billy rather late in the movie. Overall, the central appeal is the charismatic Whittaker and she drives this with a comedic charm.

What a movie! The actors are fantastic, beginning with Jodie Whittaker who is just captivating. I laughed, I cried, I laughed and cried again. I love it when a movie moves me, touches me, grips me. This little treasure sure did. And after the closing credits (with one of my favorite songs) I knew I just fell in love with it. If anyone ever watched "Jackie" with Holly Hunter knows what I am talking about. This big fat grinning on the face while watching the whole credits and that good feel that stays for hours after the film ended. That's how I felt after watching "Adult Life Skills".

Rachel Tunnard has created a delightful, cosy and funny film.A very authentic piece with an exceptional script and perfectly placed actors. The four women (Jodie Whitaker, Lorraine Ashbourne, Eileen Davis, Rachael Deering) are wonderfully alive. Ben Goldstein is excellent as the calming love (dis)interest who is "definitely not gay". The cast also features the always exceptional Alice Lowe, and an impressive Ozzy Myers as the adorably mischievous boy who looks the part with his new gun bag and penis badge to offset his sheriff's star.The film is understatedly rich. This provides much of its magic. It doesn't seem to be at all confused nor reach beyond its limits and scope. There is a plethora of detail, character and warmth. The sickly, drab and empty factory produced romance of modern American and English cinema (Love Actually) is a polar opposite to this rich, natural and awkward love story.There is a lot of love in this film. It causes the pain, aimlessness and feeling of abandonment and loss, but provides the support, colour and hope.Rachel Tunnard has delivered a perfect portrait of some facets of human love.

Hannah, after losing her twin brother 18 months ago, has moved into her mother's shed and has stubbornly refused to move on. She and her brother were very creative together and she continues her creative efforts by making videos of thumb puppets traveling in space which earns her constant criticism from her mother, who has taken a tough love approach to forcing Hannah to move on by forcing her to vacate the shed by her 30th birthday.Hannah's mother, grandmother, suitor, and girlfriend are all delightfully quirky. If you like quirky, this movie is for you. These characters are not one dimensional, but all have strengths and flaws that are shown to us by a very gifted writer/director.One explosion, no car chases, and no gratuitous violence make this a movie that does not waste ones time with formulaic nonsense for the brain dead. Instead it illustrates through actions the panic and struggle of letting go a loss so great that one thinks her life will never be the same, that it's impossible to move on. And the film illustrates the jolts of losing the precious things, one at a time, that keep her isolated and bound to her dead twin.Yet there is nothing morbid or overly dramatic in this presentation. The film is full of humor. Hannah must look after a young boy whose mother is dying, knowing what he will face. Yet he's a young cowboy and his own quirkiness mirrors Hannah's, as does his journey. Hannah is pursued awkwardly by Brandon, a somewhat shy individual who manages to approach her at the worst times, like when she's peeing behind a boat. And her dead twin appears to her in snorkeling gear which may be a clue to his death, or just his sense of humor.There's not a surprise ending to spoil. This movie is about the journey and not the outcome and like all good films, it's made up of moments which are captivating to watch and feel as well as some good laughs along the way. I highly recommend it.