directed by:
David N Reyes written by: David N Reyes genre: Drama, Comedy |
How many people do you know that end up in a job that they might even love - but end up taking so much shit from the higher-ups that they should have left years ago, yet stay because they like what they do so much or need the job so bad, they never leave despite it wreaking havoc on their mental health? If you're alive and have a pulse…if you're above ground…the answer is more than likely 'too many' – because we all know people that bust their ass for owners and management that don't care as much as they should about their employees. So heck yeah, when Grace decides to stop taking it from the boss and quit her job at the very beginning of "Paw Mama," I was all for it – vive le proletariat forever, I say!
We had more in common, though. I also applaud her not committing to going out for lunch with friends until she knows what the heck is being served at the restaurant they're going to. Believe me, this should be standard practice, without exception – take it from a guy who just got dragged to a high-end seafood restaurant for his birthday, and I have absolutely no love or appetite for anything that comes outta the ocean. The point that relates these two things I've commented on so far in "Paw Mama" are actually extremely similar – life is way, way too short to simply comply with the bullshit – and we ALL need to stop doing it. You get ONE life, as far as I've been told – don't spend it doing stuff you don't wanna do. "Grace…what are we doing here?" "What do you mean?" "I mean…your life." #Ouch! Look - Grace's roommate/sister Dee Dee has the best of intentions, but she's a bit much. To be fair, Grace is clearly at an impossible stage in her life that is tough for her to navigate. It's been two years since the pandemic finished, and Grace seems to have no real clue of how to rejoin society when things start to open up again. From my perspective, she was doin' just fine on the couch, but other people have different ideas on what life is supposed to be about, so she's been doing her best to get out there again, but it's obviously not easy for her. Is she way more comfortable with her snacks - binge-watching shows in the safety and comfort of her own home? Heck yeah, she is! She might just be my soulmate. She confirmed it when she said, "I don't really have issues with guys, I have issues with people, in general. People suck." Girrrrrrrrl – I absolutely hear you on that and feel the exact same way. So let's see here…what can we say about the man at the helm of this project, Writer/Director David N. Reyes, and what he brings to "Paw Mama?" The first thing I'll tell ya, as a music guy who just happens to watch a few films when I'm not listening to something, I very much appreciate David's clear appreciation for making so much time for the soundtrack to be featured in his film. There are songs flowing all the way throughout "Paw Mama," and even better still, he's got some wildly obscure Indie stuff, which is the kind of music I have a personal affinity for. It matters, though, when you're watching a film – music can communicate emotions that words in a script never could and kind of point our brainwaves in a direction as to what we're supposed to be connecting with. In the context of "Paw Mama," David's chosen a selection of fairly quirky but endearing tunes, which end up being very symbolic of the main character we're following in Grace and who she really is. I also felt like his casting was spot-on – I loved Kimberlee Watson in the lead role and felt like she either IS the same as Grace is in real life - or had a virtually supernatural grasp of how to go about playing this character like an alien symbiote understands who Tom Hardy is. You get the idea – Kimberlee wears the persona of Grace, and makes it seem natural and effortless. Laura Frances also deserves a shout-out for her role as Dee Dee…she might not have as much opportunity to impact us, but she's great in all the scenes you'll see her in. As for friends Beth (Alyssia Rivera) and Olivia (Catie Elaine Hankins), they end up in smaller supporting roles but also ended up making noticeable contributions to "Paw Mama" as it continued on, and I'd even go as far as to say they both liven-up the screen when we get to the scenes that they're most involved in.
Where David excels in his writing, is absolutely within the characters. He's done an exceptional job with how he's written the two sisters. Their relationship is genuine, and as individual personalities, he'd done a great job giving each their unique voice to work with. Both Watson and Frances completely understood the assignment and went on to thrive in playing Grace & Dee Dee in "Paw Mama." Where things become a little problematic for the way David writes is that a film like this is so character-focused that it's like Grace is stuck in limbo, searching for the story to be found here, in real-time as we watch. Obviously, there's a bit of a disadvantage in this being a post-pandemic scenario because it's highly likely that you've either been through moments like you'll see in "Paw Mama" yourself, or you know several people that have…and very possibly, even both. So don't get me wrong, it's a pleasant film to watch in that it's relatable, cohesive, and well-assembled – but these are the same things that also make "Paw Mama" more normal and somewhat familiar to us. There was room for some kind of detail in the plotline that would make this memorable beyond how it relates to our own similar life experience – and I feel like the real issue here is that it's so noticeably absent & altogether missing in "Paw Mama." We're looking for a moment that dives deeper into why Grace has become the person she is or why life is what it is for her now, then I feel like we got out of David's script. It's not that what we're witnessing in Grace doesn't come along with some tragic elements - but I'm not quite sure that David was able to get the maximum potential out of the emotional content in that regard. Straddling the realms of both Drama and Comedy can be extremely tough, and as a result of not committing directly to either side of that scenario, you end up with a split-personality film that doesn't quite do enough of either. The jokes are few and far between and rarely end up in a laugh larger than a modest chuckle. The drama somewhat lacks the emotional connection we need to really feel what Grace is going through. So you end up with a kind of surface-level representation of what could definitely be very moving, but we've got the bare-bones framework for that, and I felt like David needed to dig a bit deeper than he has. In many ways, I felt that Reyes ended up with better results thanks to the stellar performances from Watson and Frances. Still, though, it's a pleasant film to watch, and even though it drags a little bit too much for an hour-long film, I didn't really feel all "that" bored. Did it have enough of a conclusion or a finale to it? Honestly, no – it's more film, straight up, full stop, which echoed how much "Paw Mama" plays like a reflection of a life you already know, or one that you live yourself. If this was a pilot episode, I'd definitely be into seeing more – but as a standalone film, I feel like we're still missing that majorly memorable element in the plot. It's enjoyable, though – I feel like the characters justify meeting "Paw Mama" in the middle, so I'm going with three outta five stars here. |
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