Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival 2023- Everyone knows someone like Lawrence Kweller (Isaiah Lehtinen), star of  writer/director Chandler Levack’s incredibly smart coming-of-age feature I Like Movies. He’s a know-it-all cinephile who watches a movie a day. He dreams of becoming a big-time director and attending film school at NYU, and he judges everyone for their taste in movies. Yes, this kid is an unlikeable protagonist, which is part of what makes this feature stand out from the countless coming-of-age narratives we’ve seen before. Not only does it have a lot of heart, but it has a 17-year-old who makes it so, so hard to root for him.

Lawrence is a senior at Aldershot High School in Burlington, a suburb of Toronto. His only friend is Matt (Percy Hynes White), who, for whatever reason, does whatever Lawrence wants to do. It’s a totally one-sided friendship, but it dissolves after Lawrence tells Matt he’s only a “placeholder,” and he’s likely to meet people who share his interests once he’s at NYU. Ouch. On top of that, the two were tasked with completing a film to celebrate senior year. This becomes even more impossible when Matt gets a girlfriend who helps him edit the video, thus cutting Lawrence out. However, he deserves it because he goes on a sexist tirade. Again, this kid can be grating, a true destroyer of the very few friendships in his life.

Things aren’t much better on the home front either. Krista Bridges gives a noteworthy performance as Lawrence’s mom, left to raise her son after the father’s suicide. The two have plenty of blow-ups and tense moments, and with Brides’ performance, you can feel her character’s strain and exhaustion, having to deal with a son who is both demanding and holier-than-though. The only solace in Lawrence’s life is the fact he gets a job at a video store and has a major crush on his boss, Alana (Romina D’Ugo). However, she’s not really a person to him, and when she confronts him about something incredibly personal, he doesn’t really listen. D’Ugo brings both levity to the film and a serious storyline. She, too, turns in one heck of a performance. She calls it as she sees it, including obvious privilege.

Other cinephiles will enjoy the countless references to classic cinema. There’s even something endearing about the fact that before their friendship ends, Matt and Lawrence make short films celebrating their friendship. Before the split, they spend every Saturday together watching SNL and imagining themselves as the hosts one day. And though Lawrence can be intolerable, he does undergo an important change and character arc. He’s not at all static.

Levack made a bold move by crafting a coming-of-age film with an incredibly irritating protagonist. Yet, this character will be familiar to most of us, and despite how annoying Lawrence is, you’ll hope that he learns to actually listen to people and care about their interests. Overall, I Like Movies has moments of pure comedy mixed with gut-wrenching drama. Yet, there’s simply something uplifting and inspiring about this film that will make you feel good post-credits. It has a strange sort of magic to it.

7 Out of 10