Plot
Will Henry is a newly single graphic novelist balancing parenting his young twin daughters and a classroom full of students while exploring and navigating the rich complexities of new love and letting go of the woman who left him.
Release Year: 2015
Rating: 7.5/10 (153 voted)
Critic's Score: 69/100
Director: James C. Strouse
Stars: Jemaine Clement, Regina Hall, Jessica Williams
Storyline
PEOPLE PLACES THINGS tells the story of Will Henry (Jemaine Clement), a newly single graphic novelist father balancing single-parenting his young twin daughters, writers block, a classroom full students, all the while exploring and navigating the rich complexities of new love and letting go of the woman who left him.
Cast: Jemaine Clement -
Will Henry
Regina Hall -
Diane
Jessica Williams -
Kat
Stephanie Allynne -
Charlie
Michael Chernus -
Gary
Aundrea Gadsby -
Clio
Gia Gadsby -
Colette
Derrick Arthur -
Tom
Celia Au -
Celia
Catherine Cain -
Kid at Party
Charles Cain -
Kid at Party
Paul Castro Jr. -
Paul
Jordan Edmondson -
Kid at Party
Gavin Haag -
Usher
Alexa Magioncalda -
Kid at Park
Taglines:
His next chapter is up in the air.
Country: USA
Language: English
Release Date: 14 August 2015
Filming Locations: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating: 7/10
Charmingly every-day and cynically sweet, James Strouse's People,
Places, Things (2015) is a playful illustration of the struggles of
heartsick, 40-something nice-guys. We all know them: divorced and a bit
adrift with a couple of kids, trying to understand the gap between
where their life is and where they imagined it would be. This film is
absolutely for the faint of heart; lightweight and quippy, it keeps a
pretty steady comedic roll and is definitely not lacking in its share
of flimsy sitcom-style tropes. Cutesy jokes about grown men being
unable to dress well and efficiently care for themselves and their kids
abound. Idiot students invariably disrupt class and make jokes about
masturbation. Crazy wives are crazy. The impeccable comedic execution
of main character Will, played by Jemaine Clement, as well as
supporting cast members Stephanie Allynne, Regina Hall, and Jessica
Williams, definitely elevate this film from just a pleasant and
heartwarming flick to a cleverly executed, if light, comedic
experience. What this film lacks in profundity, it makes up for in
relatability and spirit raising adorableness that has the potential to
appeal to a wide audience.
Will is a graphic novelist and professor in New York, who separates
from his partner Charlie (Allynne) within the first five minutes of the
film after he stumbles upon her alone with another man, and in his
t-shirt, upstairs at their twin daughters' birthday party. He then
finds himself relegated to a lonely apartment in Astoria, suddenly
thrown off course and missing Charlie and his daughters. Seeing his
thinly veiled gloom in class, college student Kat (Williams) invites
him to her home for dinner with the intention of fixing him up with her
mother Diane, a quick witted Columbia University professor played by
Hall. A guarded romance ensues while Will struggles over the increasing
complexity of his dynamic with Charlie, as well as his new life,
fatherhood, and just general inability to pull himself together. Close
camera-work connects us intimately to each defeated response and
hilariously mumbling reproach Will dishes out to those around him.
Comedy strongman Clement flawlessly carries the timing and tone of this
amusingly reflective film. The musical score by Mark Orton is gently
bright and upbeat, appropriately unobtrusive for its lightweight
context. Will's own comics charmingly serve as a secondary source for
connectivity with the backstory and not-so-underlying narrative of
detached loneliness for a character that had seemingly always desired
to be a touch farther removed from those around him that he managed to
be - until now.
Will's comics are a good symbol for the film itself - quirky, cute,
superficially grazing the human condition and leaving little work to
the viewer in decoding Will's underlying emotions. We don't have to
think too much - just as when reading a comic the thoughts and
sentiment are right there in plain sight. There's not much to be done
beyond minding the "gap" between your comic's panels, as Will covers in
class, riding close to the line of obviating the weightiest symbolism
this film has to offer, while its main man searches for what was missed
in the in-between spaces he may not have been giving the necessary
attention. Still, the film manages to toe that line effectively,
maintaining its romantic comedy air while staying equally rooted in
realistic emotions and resolutions.
While Clement played a significant role in helping to elevate this
film, for me, his presence also detracted oddly. As pleasant and
consistent as this film was, I found myself continually expecting the
disarming peculiarity and heart of the directorial influence of
Clement's usual partner in film Taika Waititi (What We Do in The
Shadows, and Eagle vs. Shark). It's quirky and very personal air seemed
to nod to the same stylistic motivations, but failed to deliver that
level of uniqueness and sentiment that really makes films like
Waititi's sink into your pores and stay there. Yet, much of the charm
of People, Places, Things may be found in its ordinariness. A
pleasantly accessible film with ample charisma and comedic talent,
People, Places, Things is nothing more (or less!) than an effortlessly
funny, easy to watch and easy to like crowdpleaser.
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