Hard To Get Excited About ‘Whatever’
When the opening scene of a film exists of a drunken young woman having sex with multiple partners, and afterward she complains only about the leaves stuck in her hair, you pretty much know that the next 100 minutes or so are going to bring.
So it comes as no surprise to learn that Susan Skoog’s film “Whatever” is a gritty coming-of-age film centered on a high school senior’s struggle with what to do with her life.
But grittiness, and a decent lead performance by engaging actress Liza Weil, aren’t enough to make the film a totally satisfying experience. Offering a fresh take on this already well-documented scenario, for one thing, would help.
Anna (Weil) lives with her mother and younger brother in suburban New Jersey. Continually in conflict with the working-class sensibilities of the former and the pre-adolescent irritabilities of the latter, she spends much of her time at home scowling and muttering under her breath.
A good enough student artist to be in the running for a scholarship at New York’s prestigious Cooper Union art school, Anna is content - as content as she is about anything - to hang out with her friend Brenda (Chad Morgan), the girl with leaves in her hair.
The point is, Anna is mostly discontent - arguing with her jerk of an English teacher, her mother, her brother, the fat, balding businessman her mother hopes to marry, etc.
And little seems to work for her. Aside from her relationship with an understanding art teacher (Frederic Forrest), Anna doesn’t seem to fit. Not with her family, her schoolmates, the guys who just want to seduce her or the stoners that Brenda is so fond of taking off with.
So she’s unhappy. Duh.
What “Whatever” seems to be, overall, is the kind of rites-of-passage study that has the protagonist engage in a lot of self-destructive behavior - drink, drugs, unprotected sex - as if under the spell of a fever dream. And when the fever breaks, a new day dawns.
This is where Skoog takes us, seemingly ignoring the fact that, especially in this day and age, stupid choices can result in a lot worse fate than mere pregnancy (which is, we’re led to believe, what set the early, sad course for Anna’s mother).
“Whatever” does have its qualities. Weil is a curious mix of androgyny, budding sexuality, the girl next door and smoldering sensitivity. The film uses contemporary music well.
But too much else misses. Forrest, never a subtle actor, goes way over the top in his performance as one of the only decent male characters (another is the one you would least expect). The film just plods along, stuck in Anna’s self-pitying mood. And the fever break, if you will, comes across as an illogical tack-on.
“I’m afraid of being ordinary,” Anna says.
What about relentlessly unoriginal?
1. “Whatever” ** Locations: Lincoln Heights Cinemas. Credits: Written and directed by Susan Skoog, starring Liza Weil, Chad Morgan, Frederic Forrest, Kathryn Rosseter, Dan Montano Running time: 1:52 Rating: R
2. Other views Here’s what other critics say about “Whatever:” Sara Wildberger/Miami Herald: The ‘70s-into-‘80s memoir is mutating into a genre; there’s “Boogie Nights,” “The Last Days of Disco” and, now, “Whatever.” Maybe economic malaise is more dramatically compelling than the current prosperity; maybe scripts from the days before sex became deadly are easier to write; maybe growing up watching “Happy Days” reruns imparted, by osmosis, to directors of a certain age a genius for nostalgia. John Hartl/The Seattle Times: This teen-angst drama may have a tough time living down its title. When you’ve finished spending nearly two hours with these kids, “whatever” just seems the most rational response to Susan Skoog’s story of a New Jersey high-school senior who is afraid to be ordinary, takes up drugs, cigarettes and alcohol and loses her virginity. Stephen Hunter/The Washington Post: Skoog needs a better sense of narrative; at times the film drifts and seems to be headed nowhere and then too much happens too fast. But somehow the small truths it tells really sting.