Flipped

Coming of age films are a favorite of mine. There is a certain quality to this genre that reaches me unlike any other. Children know blunt emotion at its simplest and most raw – happy, sad, angry, nervous – while adults attach more convoluted subcategories to these feelings. Seeing kids experience these feelings on screen takes us back to our own childhoods to when we first felt them. A good coming age film will remind us and make us feel those feelings again.

In Rob Reiner’s latest film “Flipped” (adapted from the book of the same name), Juli Baker and Bryce Loski describe their journey to and from first love with one another. The uniqueness of the film is that each section of is replayed so that each character narrates their male and female point of view of the same scenario. The effect provides an original take on the traditional romantic film. What one character saw as love, the other was narrating as annoyance. When one character describes passion, the other sees crazy.

My expectations ran high for “Flipped.” Reiner is a proven director whose films span multiple genres, with numerous classics that solidify his body of work in cinema history – “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “Spinal Tap," and “A Few Good Men” are all to his name. Each film sits at the front end of their respective genres. Additionally, "Stand By Me" is among the greatest coming of age stories ever made.

And while "Flipped" should be outstanding, it is merely decent. It appears to be simple and warm, but something gets lost along the way. I don’t think it’s much fault of the actors – the cast is mostly great, with extra nods to Aidan Quinn as Richard, and Madeline Carroll as Juli (Richard’s daughter). Carroll’s full of charm and appeal, easily the most likeable part of the film and the one with whom the audience will eventually side, if not right away. Quinn’s character reaches some genuinely intense highs and reserved lows – all played with believability. The Father/Daughter bond with its joys and conflicts feels great.

One of the elements that keeps the film in average territory is its familiarity. The memory of Reiner’s classic “Stand By Me” is present in the setting and tone, perhaps to a fault (The film is even liberally graced with 50’s and early 60’s doo-wop standards, including the song “Stand By Me”). Additionally, while the film is ripe territory for clever, the cross sexes observations don’t seem as charming as they could be. Appealing and grin worthy, yes, but hardly laugh out loud hilarious.

The film also struggles to find its balance. On the one hand, we have cliché’s of family movies that play things really safe – a kind Grandfather who is clearly the most wise, or the buttoned up Mom who seem to be wide eyed and gasped at their children’s outlandish acts (such as a child’s funny faux pas at dinner), etc. Yet, there are scenes where we see some oddly placed foul language and a particularly intense Father/Daughter confrontation.

To its credit, there appears to be earnest warmth in the film and I sense Reiner’s love of simple feelings is present. The territory is deep and can potentially inspire great conversations - love, loss, disability, Father/Daughter and Father/Son dynamics, etc. That it’s set in its early 60’s time period is Reiner’s choice, and I think the film benefits as a result. Reiner knows this era – it’s the one he experienced childhood in. It’s a very cute story, and the double perspective style is fun (if slightly tiresome by the end of the film’s 90 minutes). The cinematography appears beautiful in some scenes with warm autumn tones, even if the landscapes appear digitally manipulated.

Perhaps it’s because Pixar has spoiled me with what I expect in a family film – hilarious for kids and adults, but genuinely heartfelt. Perhaps my expectations from Reiner were unrealistic to begin with, but I can’t help but feel that this film was waiting to be placed in the front of the line of great coming of age kids movies like “The Sandlot,” “Simon Birch,” or the excellent “Millions.”

As I've thought about it more, I've appreciated it more, but it just seems too safe, and strangely not safe enough. While Juli’s character is especially endearing, there are too few laughs, and the emotional depth is fairly limited in spite of the ripe territory. I recommend “Flipped” for families who are tired of explosions as mindless summer blockbusters come to a close. It will certainly recall memories of first love for parents and inspire some great conversations with the kids.