AFI Fest: James White
Monday, November 9, 2015 at 3:00PM 
Kieran, here reporting from AFI Fest in Hollywood.
James White (played by Christopher Abbott) is a 21-year-old whose life is in a kind of disarray that's sometimes indistinguishable, at least from the outset, from typical millenial aimlessness. He spends his evenings binge drinking, getting high and instigating bar fights all while harboring vague notions of becoming a writer. His estranged father has recently passed away and he sleeps on the sofa of his ailing mother, insisting that he's only there to take care of her. There's a lot in that plot description to suggest something trite and indie-by-numbers. My own antennae were up for yet another indie about a disaffected, yet ambiguously wealthy young white man. Thankfully, writer-director Josh Mond's directorial debut (he was previously a producer on Martha Marcy May Marlene whose director, Sean Durkin is a producer here) opts for something more specific and lived-in here.
The film's saving grace, at least on the script level, is that it manages to be kind to its lead character without co-signing his worldview or behavior. Yes, James is "a mess" as a family friend played by Ron Livingston tells him during a job interview that's going terribly in every possible way. [More...]
He's entitled, self-sabatoging and stuck in a perpetual extended adolescence. The film is also populated by characters willing to take James to task in ways that don't feel repetitive. You see the frustration, particularly in his mother Gail (a terrific Cynthia Nixon) and his best friend Nick (Kid Cudi), but it's specific to each character and their relationship with James.
James White isn't a perfect film. There's a love interest named Jayne (Mackenzie Leigh) and you can see Mond a bit at sea as to what exactly to do with her. James' writerly aspirations are under-explored and sometimes feel like a plot device to get us to that aforementioned job interview scene. Cinematographer Mátyás Erdély favors shooting James in tight closeup, either from the front or behind. This is sometimes used to great effect, as in the opening sequence where we follow James at the tail end of another night of heavy drinking right into his awkward appearance at his father's wake. Other times, they feel like affected flourishes and the camera would do well to pull back just a little and observe how James' environment is relating to him.
The film's best moments are between James and Gail. Abbott and Nixon absolutely nail the mother-son chemistry and their scenes, whether fraught with conflict or with tender affection are where the movie wants to be at all times. There's so much to track between both of them; his selfishness, her frustration, her dependence on him and vice versa and they conjure this believably and with aching realism.
Full disclosure: Christopher Abbott isn't the first actor to whom I would have ever thought of to headline an entire vehicle. Nothing against him. Having seen him in Martha Marcy May Marlene where he barely speaks a line of dialogue and on HBO's "Girls" where he played the beleagured, frustratingly passive pipsqueak, Charlie, I can't say he left a strong impression in either case. That's what makes how he sustains James White such a pleasantly surprising discovery. He's in almost every frame. His ability to convey magnetic charm and self-destruction are reminiscent of Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson. The film lives and dies on his charisma, which I'm happy to report Abbott has in spades.
Grade: B+
Oscar Chances: Probably none. Were "Sex and the City" still on TV, I could see a Supporting Actress narrative forming around Nixon. As it is, the film is likely too small for either her or Abbott to get in, though they're both deserving.
Reader Comments (10)
So glad you pinpointed the camera being too close -- and better yet, why that's a problem in the second half (though we do get more two and three shorts later on). It felt seriously claustrophobic. I know the intent was to be confrontational and thrust you into James's trapped terrible headspace but seriously. I don't need to see pores constantly in close up.
But Cynthia Nixon is amazing.
Co-sign this entire review.
Very true. Initially was very turned off by some of the directing choices. However, what sticks with me is the talent of Abbot and Nixon. If only there weren't so much category fraud in the supporting race this year, would love to see a surprise nomination for Cynthia Nixon. Both do a great job of silently articulating the different layers of their relationship. They respond and compliment each other very well.
I absolutely loved loved loved the camerawork throughout. The framing, the movement, the lighting, the energy. Loved.
Also Nixon. My favourite supporting performance I've seen so far, either gender.
LOVE this film and the two central performances. I personally liked the chlostrophobia of being forced to constantly look at Abbott's face, but I agree the scenes with Nixon are the highlights (though the intro and any scene involving a fight were also impressive). At this point, nothing comes near Abbott in Actor or Nixon in Supporting Actress for me.
Spell check fail... Claustrophobia...
Every year there seems to be one US indie that intrigues me but gets a tiny release and takes forever to reach Australia. Look forward to seeing this eventually, even if I have to order a DVD from the US.
Christopher Abbott was pretty winning and vulnerable (and sexy, imo) in the Melanie Lynskey movie Hello I Must Be Going. I'm glad he's being featured again in something like this.
Cynthia Nixon is just an Oscar away from the EGOT. Could this be it?
Abbott was one of the unsung emotional lynchpins of Girls. When he left, the show imploded very quickly.