FYC: Gaby Hoffmann in "C'mon C'mon"

by Lynn Lee

Gaby Hoffmann doesn’t make it look easy.  Motherhood, that is.  Neither is she a drama queen about it.  As down-to-earth Viv – sister to thoughtful, sad-eyed journalist Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) and mother of Jesse (Woody Norman), the precocious 9-year-old Johnny looks after for a time – she just shows and tells it like it is, with an honesty, humility, and humor that’s as refreshing as it is rare to see on screen.  And that, precisely, is why she’s the secret weapon of C’mon C’mon, and why she should be in the running for Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

That she isn’t even in the conversation is due as much to the nature of C’mon C’mon as Hoffmann’s performance...

Like 20th Century Women, Mike Mills’ previous film, it’s a quiet, character-driven piece focused on essentially loving family dynamics that are unconventional without being either dysfunctional or aggressively quirky. You see very little capital-A “Acting” in a Mills picture; what you get are marvelously natural, nuanced evocations of human emotions and flaws whose impact sneaks up on you but are all too often overlooked by awards bodies in favor of flashier fare.

To the extent there’s been any talk about C’mon C’mon’s Oscar prospects, most of it has focused on Phoenix and Norman.  They’re indisputably fantastic, and the growth of their relationship is the backbone of the film.  But it bears emphasizing that Hoffmann’s Viv is just as integral to the story.  She has such a warm yet bracing presence and is so important to the developing bond between Johnny and Jesse it’s easy to forget she spends most of the movie physically separated from them, dispensing advice via phone as she takes care of Jesse’s bipolar father (Scoot McNairy) during a particularly bad manic episode.  Whenever Johnny flounders in his surrogate-dad role, her response is neither judgmental nor sentimental but wearily understanding, pragmatic, and laden with the hard-earned wisdom of experience.  She doesn’t mince words on how much being a parent can and does suck, even how much she hates it at times, and how the fact that she loves Jesse to pieces somehow makes it worse.

It’s the same sentiment we see in The Lost Daughter, another film that plumbs how draining it is to be a mother (especially a mother with another career), but conveyed in a very different tone.  This is a tricky line for any actress to walk, given how unforgiving audiences are towards on-screen mothers who show anything other than total, unwavering devotion to their children.  Yet somehow Hoffmann disarms us with the frankness of her delivery, at once matter-of-fact and full of conflicting emotions, that will resonate with any parent – and even with non-parents like me.  She teaches her brother that as with other aspects of adulting, a lot of parenting is flailing, quailing, and figuring it out as you go along, making mistakes and learning how to repair them.  She knows that sometimes you have to admit fault, and sometimes you just gotta get some disgusting processed sausage rolls into your kid and call it a day.

Viv is, of course, more than just a mother.  Intercut with her scenes as counselor to Johnny and intermediary between him and Jesse are glimpses of her taking care of Jesse’s dad, and her working life of reading, writing, and teaching.  These leave no doubt both that Viv is a good mom and that it’s been a near-impossible balancing act she’s just barely pulling off.

In sharing this with Johnny, she mends their own fractured relationship, which is the other key narrative of C’mon C’mon.  We discover the siblings were functionally not speaking before Johnny’s opening call and offer – really more of a peace offering – to take care of Jesse.  Phoenix and Hoffmann play beautifully off each other in filling out this evolving dynamic, which is weighed down with so much more history (friction over her marriage, the death of their mother) than Johnny and Jesse’s tabula rasa.  Even just talking quietly on the phone, they fully convey all the unspoken tensions and resentments underlying their estrangement and their gradual thawing and rebuilding of intimacy and trust as they reconnect over caring for Jesse. 

On Viv’s end especially, Hoffmann shows her shift from initial wariness to affectionate sympathy so organically that when she finally physically embraces Johnny, near the end of the movie, it feels like a catharsis.  It’s a moment that calls to mind another great movie about a brother-sister relationship (and, for that matter, an uncle-nephew relationship), You Can Count on Me, in which Hoffmann coincidentally had a small role.  The fact that C’mon C’mon stands up as well as it does to that masterpiece is due as much to Hoffmann’s superb work as to her co-stars’.  She may be supporting, but she’s also a standout.

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Comments

[Fadhil]

I cannot wait to watch this movie!

[Peggy Sue]

Heard rumors that she's not vaccinated so the lack of buzz must be heaven for the PR team.

[Mr Ripley79]

I liked her performance the most but afraid to say I found the film boring and a bit cliched,lovely b and w scenery though and nice to see Phoenix relax for a change,i'm not a fan of child actors but Norman was very natural.