Wildflower (2023) Video Mp4 Download Movie
A little heartache, a lot of love.
The story of Bea Johnson from birth to graduation as she navigates life with an intellectually disabled parent and an extended family who can’t quite agree on the best way to help.
A terrific cast can only do so much with superficial, maudlin material in the coming-of-age dramedy “Wildflower.”
Kiernan Shipka deftly navigates the film’s sometimes clunky tonal shifts as Bea, a high school senior who’s the child of intellectually disabled parents, Derek (Dash Mihok) and Sharon (autistic actress Samantha Hyde). Shipka is accessible and likable throughout the movie’s many highs, lows, and narrative time jumps, and the veteran “Mad Men” child star always has reliable comic timing.
For starters, Bea (short for Bambi, her mom’s favorite character) is lying in a hospital bed in a coma, narrating the film in sardonic tones: “I’ve always felt trapped in this family, but this is a whole other level,” she jokes off the top as frantic relatives surround her, fretting about her fate. That can be amusing, especially when she contradicts other characters in a clipped, dry way reminiscent of Ron Howard’s voiceover work on “Arrested Development.” Bea has been in some sort of accident, and the flashback structure fills in who she is and, eventually, solves the mystery of how she got there. But too often, the script from director Matt Smukler (in his feature film debut) and Jana Savage calls on Bea to spell out everything in her narration, including feelings and instincts we can clearly surmise for ourselves from what’s happening on screen.
She takes us back to the beginning, showing us how her parents met, quickly fell in love, married, and gave birth to her, despite the concern and disapproval of their own parents. Sharon’s mother and father (Jean Smart and Brad Garrett) bicker over whether she’s equipped to care for a baby. “Wildflower” is based on a true story, but it offers a simplistic perspective of Sharon, depicting her almost entirely in childlike terms. She’s more of a cheery idea than a fully-formed character, flitting about, getting easily distracted, and finding joy in the little things in life. Derek, meanwhile, is an agreeable goofball after suffering a serious brain injury in his youth, and there isn’t much more to him than that. And Jacki Weaver, as Derek’s mom, is too much of a narcissist to worry about anyone else’s future; the first time we see her, she’s hamming it up big time, cluelessly smoking in Bea’s hospital room for wacky laughs. Smart finds the grace notes in her beleaguered, no-nonsense grandmother character. Garrett barely gets anything to do.
Wildflower (2023)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Release Date: Mar 23, 2023 (United States)
Stars: Kiernan Shipka, Alexandra Daddario, Charlie Plummer
Source: Wildflower.2022.1080p.WEBRip.x264-LAMA
Language: English
Subtitle Language: English
