A 24-Karat Case of Love — The 4:30 Movie
Whether you’re a fan of the works of Kevin Smith or not, there are some things that simply can’t be denied. He loves movies (really all pop culture media) in the same way that most of us do, continuously approaching his projects through the lens of a fan rather than an auteur or studio executive. He is intensely loyal and reverent to his friends, family, hometown, and roots. Most importantly, he’s one of the most sincere filmmakers of all time. No matter what he does, whether or not the flick “works,” his good intentions and genuine affection for the fact that he’s living his dream shines through in every frame. He’s arguably cinema’s biggest hopeless romantic, and while there are legitimate criticisms that anyone can lob at his creative output over the last 30 years, a lot of them can be forgiven because there’s not an ounce of cynicism in anything he does.
This extends to his activities outside of writing and directing. In 2022, Smith bought the Atlantic Moviehouse in Atlantic Highlands, NJ, the one he used to frequent as a child, and refurbished it into Smodcastle Cinemas, so that a piece of his life and love could continue to be shared with others. There are reports that the theatre is struggling financially, but making a huge profit was never the point. The inevitable march of time will eventually trample us all, and some things have to be let go in the name of progress, but a small community movie theatre isn’t necessarily one of them. So as long as he can afford to, why not lean into that nostalgia and wistfulness and at least try to keep it going so that the next generation can experience the same joyous memories that he had? Some hills are worth figuratively dying on, and sharing a passion with as many people as possible — especially when no one’s getting hurt by it — certainly qualifies.
It’s that combination of hope for the future, reverence for the past, and self-love and pride in the present that pervades every second of Smith’s latest project, The 4:30 Movie, shot on location at Smodcastle last year (they got a waiver during the SAG strike, as the film had a microbudget and wasn’t aligned with any AMPTP outlets). As Smith himself mentioned at a post-screening Q&A I attended, the flick is semi-autobiographical, with the lead character based on himself (even more so than Dante Hicks or Holden McNeil, as he noted), and most of the events either directly or indirectly referencing his first soul mate — movies — along with his first human romance. In doing so, he provides audiences with his best work since Dogma.
In a bit of familiar (or familial) casting, Austin Zajur — who previously had a small role in Clerks III and has been dating Smith’s daughter Harley Quinn for five years — stars as Brian David, a high school junior who finally works up the courage to ask out his crush, Melody Barnegat (Siena Agudong). They had a very brief tryst the previous summer where they made out in Melody’s pool, but Brian was too nervous to go for “second base,” even though he had full clearance to do so. He’s thought about that moment ever since, evidenced by his narration into a personal tape recorder, and now is the time to pull the trigger, as a new movie is coming out based on a book series that she likes. It’s R-rated, however, so the plan is to do what Brian and his friends do all the time, which is buy a ticket for a more age-appropriate film, and then just spend the day at the theatre sneaking in to other movies as they go. They agree to meet for the titular afternoon show, and Brian’s day is made.
Joining Brian on what appears to be a regular ritual are his best friends Burny (Nicholas Cirillo) and Belly (Reed Northrup). When you see this trio in their element, a wave of realization strikes you. You can easily tell that this is a coming-of-age comedy just by looking at the poster. But there’s something different about this one, because there’s a meta irony to their journey at the cinema. A good chunk of Smith’s filmography, including the entirety of the “View Askewniverse,” feature stories that are essentially coming-of-age, but they’re centered on emotionally stunted adults, many of them caught in that very 90s ennui of arrested development. Dante and Randal work entry-level jobs into their 30s, Holden laments his success at making dick and fart jokes. Brodie Bruce and Banky Edwards are comic book obsessed man-children. And of course we have Jay and Silent Bob present through the entirety of the series basically caring only about getting high, drunk, and laid. Many of these stories are about oversized kids finally growing up to one degree or another, for better or worse, depending on your tastes and sensibilities.
For Brian, Burny, and Belly, however, they actually are at the proper stage of their lives for this type of narrative. Burny looks like a young John Travolta character while acting like a young Matt Dillon character. He rags on Brian but is possessive and overprotective of him at the same time. He resents the possibility of Melody occupying too much of Brian’s attention, thereby potentially becoming the Yoko Ono of the group. His part of the adventure — punctuated by a Mallrats-esque scene of meeting his hero, a professional wrestler played by Sam Richardson — is to realize that friends do grow apart to one extent or another, but as long as the affection is there, so too will be the rapport, no matter what form it takes. Belly, sporting an immaculate ginger rat tail and a nerdy, nasal voice like a combination of Danny Cooksey and Eddie Deezen, is often the net in arguments between Brian and Burny, and must learn to assert his own wants and needs, keeping the threesome as strong as it can be by refusing to take sides and calling both of them out on their respective bullshit. As for Brian, he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about being a tad on the short side (Zajur is 5'6″, just below average), and finds himself at a crossroads where he wants to move on to the next stage of his life, but he’s unsure of what that is, especially when he’s just your average Catholic school kid whose world revolves around the movies. It’s oddly apropos to see these guys doing everything in their power to see pictures that are considered too mature for them, when they themselves spend the bulk of the proceedings clinging to the last vestiges of their youth, sometimes in very childish ways. Thankfully, all three young actors kill it in every scene, playing their tropes to the absolute hilt, especially Zajur and Cirillo, so that it never feels trite.
The theatre serves as the centerpiece for the story, and really, it’s a character unto itself (evidenced by the fact that Smith gave it a cheeky credit in the cast listing). When the boys arrive at the place “where movies come to play,” they are “greeted” by the the curmudgeonly delusional Manager Mike (a wonderfully game Ken Jeong), who drives a ridiculous “Movie Mobile” car and wields his ability to ban customers like an iron fist. The “correct” feature for the group is a Flash Gordon knockoff called Astro Blaster & The Beaver Men starring rapper Logic and Diedrich Bader, introduced by Grindhouse-style fake trailers for B-movies starring the likes of Jason Biggs, Jay Mewes, and Harley herself (in a fun anecdote during the Q&A, Smith recounted that he originally intended for Harley to play Melody, but she asked him not to cast her boyfriend and her as a young Kevin and his high school girlfriend, opting instead for a murderous nun posing as a hooker to track down gangsters in this made-up preview that I pray goes the route of Machete and Thanksgiving to one day become real). The ushers (Genesis Rodriguez and Adam Pally) show the extremes of the spectrum of the wage slaves who keep such a magical place operational, leading to some of the funniest and most heartfelt moments.
All of this comes together to give audiences — even those who aren’t Kevin Smith fans — something to enjoy on a higher level. I put this down to two major elements. The first is that no matter the era, the experiences in this film are fairly universal. We all remember our first crush. We all know that feeling we got in the pit of our stomachs when we experienced that first spark of creativity, that epiphany of realizing where we want to go in our lives. I never personally attempted to sneak into a movie (even though it would have been super easy at my local one in high school under the right circumstances; two auditoriums were connected by a small foyer that was out of the line of sight of the box office and concession stand, and there were no security cameras, would have been zero trouble to hop from one to the other), but we’ve all played our pranks, tested the limits of our parents’ tolerance, and bent a few rules.
In a way, this makes for one of the safest, and most chaste (relatively speaking) films of Smith’s career. There are lewd references here and there, but for the most part, the script leans into the more bright-eyed innocence of its protagonists. Yes, there are masturbation jokes, but these boys are also 16 and 17 years old. That they’re doing anything other than waxing their carrots for the duration of the runtime is a statistical miracle. The crude stuff is relegated to asides and cutaway gags rather than being the driving force of the plot. Even Brian’s potential relationship with Melody keeps things remarkably clean. There are hormones involved, certainly, but as Brian himself puts it later on, all he wants to do is watch movies with her, and presumably make out a bit. There’s a surprising cuteness in the way that Brian and Melody address each other by their full names, for example. This is a story about reliving and revering those formative moments of our adolescence, not regretting the times where it didn’t work out.
The second is that the flick leans heavily into nostalgia without fully pandering to it. Yes, if you’re a Kevin Smith fanboy (and I proudly count myself among them), you will recognize the winks and nods to all that’s come before, the cavalcade of cameos from those who’ve appeared in other works (Justin Long and Jason Lee show up for scenes that could be completely cut with nothing missed from the main plot), and the self-aware jokes about our present day culture, including a nice dig at post-credit scenes.
But it makes sense within context, because rather than just making a film set in the 1980s, Smith has made a genuine 80s film. From the story beats and plot structure, to the somewhat stilted nature of the dialogue, to the simple and understandable character motivations, to the way Brian’s loves are lit like glimmering treasures (both Melody and the movies), to the note-perfect song written and performed by Bear and Brendan McCreary (sharing its title with this review’s headline; Smith admitted it was a real cringe line he actually said to his first sweetheart) that caps the proceedings, all of this is pure 80s cinematic gold. Rather than just note things that existed during the era while still making a modern movie ( IT: Part One immediately springs to mind), this is a picture of, by, and for the 80s, where things like chintzy production values or one-scene characters that have no real bearing on the story were quite commonplace. Whether intentional or not, Smith has created a truly immersive experience that gets the pathos across, giving middle-aged viewers a nice reminder of what they once knew, and letting younger attendees understand that the more things chance, the more they stay the same.
That’s the key to making sure this resonates on a deeper level, and Smith absolutely nails it. Without getting too far into spoilers, there’s a great moral about pursuing your ambitions, no matter how long it takes to realize them. “You’re a filmmaker. You just haven’t made your film yet,” says a surprisingly crucial character (though not too surprising if you know Smith’s style), and that struck a chord for a lot of people in the auditorium, myself included. Kevin Smith was one of the people who made me want to get into this industry. He showed me and countless others that if you’re passionate and driven enough, and have a modicum of talent, you can find your place in this chaotic world. I’m not a filmmaker. I’m a writer. I haven’t written my novel yet. I haven’t written my screenplay… yet. But I write this blog, and maybe it helps people make better choices at the box office. I write trivia questions for game shows, and I’ve seen lives changed from the money those questions have won them. I write shitty jokes for shitty videos where I make fun of shitty trailers, and occasionally people laugh. I’ll get around to the bigger stuff eventually, but it’s always worth it to take stock and realize just how far I’ve come from the awkward nerd with a rat tail who wrote for his high school newspaper and made a short film about a newscast where all the stories were lip-synced to Elton John songs.
I’m pretty sure that most of the people who go to see this will feel these things as well. Manager Mike has a disingenuous slogan that he repeats to each customer as he tears their ticket. “Have fun, don’t run,” he mutters, clearly dead inside. But honestly, it’s good advice for all of us. Have fun, live in the moment, enjoy the experience of life, whether it’s going for a jog, playing video games, reading a good book, or just sitting in a darkened theatre all day watching whatever’s on the screen. But most importantly, don’t rush through it all. Don’t run from one thing to the next. Savor your days on this planet and the memories they make. And don’t be afraid to confront the truths and realities that life throws at you. Keep moving forward, but never forget where you came from. That is a message of pure love, and that it can be conveyed by the same guy who brought “snowballing” into our cultural lexicon is proof that literally anything is possible.
Grade: A
Join the conversation in the comments below! What film should I review next? What was your first love? Have you ever sneaked into a movie and gotten away with it? Let me know! Let me know! And remember, you can follow me on Twitter (fuck “X”) and subscribe to my YouTube channel for even more content, and check out the entire BTRP Media Network at btrpmedia.com!
Originally published at http://actuallypaid.com on September 20, 2024.
