Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’ on Hulu, a Feel-Good Charmer and Lazy Southern Parable

The Peanut Butter Falcon was a 2019 box office sleeper, enjoyed by critics and audiences for the type of feel-good accessibility that’ll likely translate nicely for home audiences now that it’s streaming on Amazon Prime and Hulu. Shia LaBeouf headlines alongside newcomer Zack Gottsagen, who play unlikely pals on a road trip through the swamps of the Southeast. It’s not a matter of if it’ll warm your heart, but how much.

THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Zak (Gottsagen) has been in a nursing home for two-and-a-half years. He’s 22. He has Down Syndrome. He has no money. He has no family. He has no place else to go. The state just stuck him there. The state sucks. He watches a battered old videotape of a local-legend big-time wrestler named Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church), and when he’s done watching it, he watches it again. He’s treated kindly by the residents, probably because of his youthful vigor, frequently shown in his enthusiasm for wrestling. The tape advertises the Redneck’s wrestling school, and of course, Zak wants to attend, even though the school is probably a memory by now. Some of his elderly pals help him stage escapes, which upsets his friend and volunteer advocate, Eleanor (Dakota Johnson). They put bars on his window, which his roommate Carl (Bruce Dern) helps him bend, probably because he wants to see this kid free to chase a dream, probably because he’s tired of watching that goddamn videotape. Zak greases up with liquid soap, slips through the bars and rumbles off into the night wearing only his tighty whities.

Meanwhile, Tyler (LaBeouf) is a hard-life fisherman in North Carolina’s Outer Banks who carries himself like he’s 10, maybe 15 years older than he is. He nurses a memory of his older brother, who clearly isn’t around any more. Tyler routinely burgles crab pots owned by Duncan (John Hawkes) and Ratboy (Yelawolf), and this last time was the last straw. Tyler’s boss fires him and Duncan and Ratboy beat him up and he grabs a lighter and burns up their dock and gear and takes off. He hops in his boat, and the two grizzled toughs chase him through the swamps and channels. He kills the motor, squats down and waits for them to pass, and who’s stowing away under a tarp but Zak, seasick from the chase.

Some company isn’t too unwelcome for Tyler, but Zak has no shirt, no pants, no shoes and he can’t swim, which Tyler learns after he ditches Zak and some kids torment him by calling him “retard” and pushing him off a dock. He dives in after him and they end up hoofing it for a while, through a cornfield and to a convenience store where Tyler buys some fishhooks and a jar of peanut butter and is gifted some moonshine by the proprietor. He also meets Eleanor, who’s combing the area with a photo of Zak, hoping to find him. So Tyler and Zak are both on the run, dodging pursuers, one with a goal and the other without and both just to get away, and before you know it, they have a secret handshake, and Tyler is letting him wear one of his shirts and pairs of pants and a pair of boots and teaching him how to shoot a 12-gauge.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: There’s a bigger-than-life/small-detail parabolist quality here that’s like a slightly less well-read version of South-set neo-myths like Beasts of the Southern Wild and Mud.

Performance Worth Watching: LaBeouf finds the conviction, intensity and unspoken inner life of a character written with relatively broad strokes. And he’s comically on-point, too, finding the sweet spot between impulsive rascal and grieving, wayward young man.

Memorable Dialogue: Zak: “YOU ARE NOT INVITED TO MY BIRTHDAY PARTY!”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: Peanut Butter Falcon could’ve been exploitative, but it’s not — it’s about a man with a singular interest, and an urgent need to pursue it. Zak is treated like a commodity by the nursing home director, and gum on the bottom of the state’s shoe, but that frankly doesn’t faze him. He’s fazed by very little, not even a rough-looking loner with a shotgun on his shoulder like Tyler. Gottsagen is the film’s heart, and his Downs isn’t always the focus of the plot; it’s a fact and it’s treated as such, and we want him to meet his wrestling hero like we’d want to see anyone’s dream come to fruition.

The film makes a point of contrasting Eleanor and Tyler — she wants to protect Zak, and he wants the guy to get his hands dirty. Both are right. There’s terrific chemistry between Gottsagen and LaBeouf, and Johnson inevitably makes it a trio of easy charm and simple, direct sentiment. These men don’t have families, so maybe they need to make their own, here in the beauty of the warm Atlantic coast, with its golden skies, ragged grasslands, raw-beauty beaches and bursts of refreshing rain.

These characters exist in a just-go-with-it plot that starts out dramatically heightened but mostly believable, and grows into full-blown bull roar. Zak and Tyler talk deep next to beach campfires; there are swimming lessons and treacherous treks across rough waters. There’s a musical montage at the halfway point marking the tonal merger toward cutesy-folksy-cringey hokiness, and they start meeting oddball locals, floating on a raft like Huck Finn and Jim and forging Zak’s wrestling persona, which of course is the title of the movie. How can Eleanor resist getting swept into their upbeat adventure? How can any of us? The movie mostly works in service of cockle-warming, and writer/directors Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz show a confident hand with the cast and setting. It’s good, and when it’s not good, it’s pretty damn good.

Our Call: STREAM IT. You’d have to be made of iron not to be affected by The Peanut Butter Falcon and its lazy raft of delights.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Stream The Peanut Butter Falcon on Hulu