WHEN YOU FINISH SAVING THE WORLD – Review

So, I’m thinking that there may be a bit of a hidden strategy concerning a couple of this week’s big movie releases. Nothing nefarious mind you, perhaps more of a coincidence. Basically, we’ve got two tales of conflict between a parent and a son. Yes, the other film is the somber, emotional drama THE SON. This other work, on the “flip side” also has lots of verbal clashes, but it’s peppered with lots of humor, often at the expense of the divisive duo. Plus it takes a few well-deserved shots, more like “burns’ at our social media-obsessed society. This is a touch ironic since it’s written and directed by the actor who was Oscar-nominated for his performance in an epic docudrama set on the fringes of the worldwide web. Now we’ve given a heads-up to the script’s snarky tone by the title. Can’t you almost hear a parent or a teen screaming with a sarcastic sneer WHEN YOU FINISH SAVING THE WORLD, followed by a door slam?

At least once a week, high-schooler Ziggy Katz (Finn Wolfhard) must not be disturbed in his room. Is he studying or preparing for a school play? No, he’s in his makeshift podcast studio, serenading his worldwide web audience with his original folk/pop tunes (and hoping for some money online transfers with their applause). This baffles his stodgy parents. His dad Roger (Jay O. Sanders) is a befuddled academic who wanders the different rooms. The most irritated is Evelyn (Julianne Moore), who pressures Ziggy to devote time to more serious pursuits, mainly college. Ziggy insists that he’ll be a famous music superstar any minute now. In the mornings she often drives him to high school, with his guitar case strapped to his backpack, on the way to her job at an abused women’s shelter. It’s there that Ev becomes very interested in one of the new residents. Kyle (Billy Bryk) has helped his mom get away from his violent father. Ev seems to envy their close bond and decides that her big new project will be getting Kyle into college and away from his dad’s garage (he’s a mechanic there). Meanwhile, Zig becomes smitten with one of his classmates, Lila (Alisha Boe). He finally joins her and her pals at their lunch table. Unfortunately, they don’t care about his tunes, as they discuss “political stuff” like climate change and nationalism leaving Zig in the dark. But he’s determined and joins her at a “current events coffeehouse”, where the enlightened teens scoff at his silly songs. And then he hears Lila recite her own poem about the Marshall Islands. A bulb lights above his head. He can turn it into a rousing musical anthem! Will this be the way to her heart? And will this cause a rift with mom Ev now that she seems to have a “surrogate son” in Kyle?

Moore effectively buries her usual sunny screen persona as the often deadpan, fairly humorless mama Evelyn. With her body language seemingly forever braced to endure the frustration of the world, especially her only son, Moore’s Ev appears to yearn for just a smidgeon of joy. When she encounters Kyle we can see that light flicker on, brightest when she even plays a silly prank on the earnest lad. It flickers out when Ev realizes that she’s overstepped and Moore conveys her falling spiral back into place. Wolfhard gives the complex Ziggy a really complex characterization. He’s casually vicious to his folks while putting on an adorable, ingratiating front to his fans and online patrons. And then he’s sweetly “gobsmacked” by Lila, though his confidence is chipped away when she and her “smart friends” mock his vapid shallowness. Wolfhard shows us that beneath his musical arrogance, he’s still hoping to fit in. Boe’s Lila is that “object of desire” who’s trying to be nice to the overeager Zig, but doesn’t want to “lead him on” since she’s into changing the planet through actions, not silly melodies. As for Ev’s focus, Bryk gives kyle a simple sunny dignity as he remains devoted to his mom as he’s puzzled by Ev’s push into higher learning. Floating above most of the chaos is the funny Sanders whose Roger just wants a nice quiet dinner and to be acknowledged for his own career (he has a fit when neither Ev nor Zig attends his honors banquet).

Oh, that actor/director is none other than the pseudo-Zuckerberg Jesse Eisenberg, who also penned the screenplay adaptation based on his 2020 Audible Original work. Mmm, maybe this is also pretty close to another release from this weekend, MISSING, since a good chunk deals with online connections, and the opening sequence is a monitor screen that’s filled with tabs of Zig’s smitten fanbase. Other than that Eisenberg eschews any fancy storytelling techniques to highlight the two main characters and the terrific acting duo. He commits to the awkward home encounters that can unexpectedly explode in verbal “throw-downs” as neither side really understands the other’s way of thinking. Still, it’s hard to believe that Zig’s “enlightened” parents would permit his many “FU’ tirades (maybe it’s a dig at the whole”don’t stifle the child’s spirit” mentality). Those fraught encounters take a backseat after the first act to concentrate on the twin “manias” with Zev wanting a girlfriend and Ev trying to retrieve a paternal bond. This all culminates in a fairly hopeful final denouncement that doesn’t feel drawn out. And that may be the best part of the whole thing. After a recent spate of bloated three-plus hours of self-indulgent cinema, Eisenberg embraces brevity with a blessed 88-minute runtime which feels…just right. Maybe not for a sweeping historical epic, but almost perfect for a mother/son dramedy. And that’s a real ‘saving grace” for WHEN YOU FINISH SAVING THE WORLD.

3 Out of 4

WHEN YOU FINISH SAVING THE WORLD is now playing in select theatres