Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Kicking and Screaming is one of my all-time favorite films. I’m not talking about the 2005 sports comedy starring Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall, and a soccer ball — although that movie does crack my top 20,000 favorite flicks list — I’m referring to Noah Baumbach’s brilliant 1995 indie dramedy of the same name. Starring Josh Hamilton (Grover) and Olivia d’Abo (Jane), the critically-acclaimed film follows a group of recent college graduates who attempt to navigate the uncertainty that accompanies life after college. Since a new generation of streamers are in the midst of falling under the bewitching spell of Baumbach’s latest film — The Meyerowitz Stories, a sensational family comedy that’s now streaming on Netflix — there’s no better time to revisit the the director’s first, and in my opinion best, feature film.
Kicking and Screaming, which is also available to watch on Netflix, has earned cult favorite status for a variety of reasons. Written and directed by Baumbach, the film exudes a raw earnestness that makes a familiar story feel fresh. Its motley crew of postgrad characters embody the plight of the 22-year-old, which is to say they’re over-educated intellectuals who are maddeningly illiterate when it comes to possessing any practical real world savvy. Along with cinematic contemporaries like Reality Bites and Singles, Baumbach’s ode to the ambiguity of adulthood is an evocative distillation of the “now what?” malaise that permeated the Gen X culture in the mid-nineties.
Premiering when Baumbach was a mere 26 years-old, Kicking and Screaming has an inherent poise that would lead you to believe it was led by a veteran director. The film’s focus never wavers as it explores big questions by telling small stories that deal with the perplexities of love, the cozy sanctuary of friendship, and the pesky tidal wave of anxiety that submerges you upon the realization that you’ve received a life sentence to the penitentiary known as adulthood. The charming aimlessness of the film mirrors the characters we’re following. College graduation is where expectations finally meet reality and that is terrifying. No film represents that unique combination of excitement and apprehension more vividly than Kicking and Screaming.
Also starring Carlos Jacott, Chris Eigeman, Eric Stoltz, Parker Posey, and Elliott Gould, the film is brilliantly cast, but it’s Baumbach’s deft script that abides. The Kicking and Screaming screenplay is simply beautiful. The naturalistic dialogue accomplishes the rare feat of radiating intelligence without being over-written. The opening banter between Grover and Jane is a lively exchange worthy of being included on a Screenwriting 101 syllabus. It sets a tone, plows through exposition, and, man oh man, it’s just so effortlessly cool. When someone asks me what I’m looking for in a romantic partner, I usually babble on about kindness, nice eyes, and an affinity for Freddie Prinze Jr. films, but, really, I just want to show them the first 10 minutes of Kicking and Screaming, point to the screen, and yell “that.”
Grover: Oh, congratulations on the fiction prize.
Jane: Yeah. You could have, uh, won if you’d submitted. Or at least it would have been close.
Grover: You know even though all 618 of us were wearing caps and gowns out there today, I couldn’t help but think it was a coincidence that we were both wearing black.
Jane: Thank you. That’s almost a sweet thing for you to say.
No writer has captured the existential angst that accompanies post-graduate life more adeptly than Noah Baumbach. If you enjoyed The Meyerowitz Stories or are a fan of the films of Whit Stillman, you’ll want to press play on Kicking and Screaming.
