349 Kicking and Screaming

[Buttery Jeb]

From Image's site:

KICKING AND SCREAMING

Paralyzed with post-graduation ennui, a group of college friends remain on campus, patching together a community for themselves in order to deny the real-world futures awaiting them. Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Noah Baumbach's hilarious and touching directorial debut was one of the highlights of the American independent film scene of the Nineties, speaking directly to a generation of adults-to-be unable to reconcile their hermetic education experience with workaday responsibility, and posing the eternal question, "Where do we go from here?" Stingingly funny and incisive, Baumbach's breakthrough features endlessly quotable dialogue delivered by a stellar ensemble cast.

Special Features:

* New high-definition digital transfer supervised by Noah Baumbach
* New video interview with writer-director Baumbach
* New video conversations featuring Baumbach and cast members
* Deleted scenes
* Baumbach short film: "Conrad and Butler in 'Conrad and Butler Take a Vacation'"
* 1995 interviews with Baumbach and the cast, originally broadcast on IFC
* Theatrical trailer
* New essay by Jonathan Rosenbaum

SRP $29.95 Release Date August 22nd, 2006.

[zut]

wow, a rosenbaum essay? that's a nice touch. and i always enjoy short films.

[tavernier]

wow, a rosenbaum essay? that's a nice touch. and i always enjoy short films.

For those who feel Rosenbaum is one of our best critics, this proves that his critical acumen is not infallible.

[zut]

I don't think he's the best critic, I just think he's an interesting one. He should at least have something of interest to say.

[FilmFanSea]

wow, a rosenbaum essay? that's a nice touch. and i always enjoy short films.

For those who feel Rosenbaum is one of our best critics, this proves that his critical acumen is not infallible.

Rosenbaum's brief review from the Chicago Reader:

Superficially, this first feature by 25-year-old writer-director Noah Baumbach (1995)--a comedy about four male college graduates who find themselves unable to leave campus and start their lives--calls to mind Bodies, Rest & Motion and Reality Bites (both of which shared this movie's producer, Joel Castleberg) as well as the two brittle and literate features of Whit Stillman, Metropolitan and Barcelona (both sharing actor Chris Eigeman). But part of what makes this effort more soulful and sustaining than any of those reference points is the curiosity and alertness of Baumbach's direction of his actors--Eigeman, Josh Hamilton, Jason Wiles, Carlos Jacott, Eric Stoltz, Olivia d'Abo, Elliott Gould, Cara Buono, and Parker Posey. There's plenty of wit on the surface, but the pain of paralysis comes through loud and clear. Check this one out.

JR is not calling this film a masterpiece, but rather a well-made indie first-film worth checking out. I don't think anyone is arguing that Rosenbaum's opinions are unerring, Gospel Truth.
Outside of the Pope, is anyone truly infallible?

[justeleblanc]

JR's the Bruch to my Picasso.

[tavernier]

JR is not calling this film a masterpiece, but rather a well-made indie first-film worth checking out. I don't think anyone is arguing that Rosenbaum's opinions are unerring, Gospel Truth.
Outside of the Pope, is anyone truly infallible?

Dan Brown?

[maxbelmont]

First of, I want to applaud Criterion for selecting Baumbach's Kicking and Screaming (1995). This film has much sentimental value because it was a film that I happened to stumble across. I had seen Eigeman earlier in Stillman's Metropolitan and felt he had a timing that few actors had ever embodied. Eigeman, to this day, has his own sticatto worth experiencing.

Back to Kicking and Screaming, Baumbach's subtle use of post graduate angst has ever been attempted without seeming condescending or forced upon its audience. Empire Records came out around this time and I'll admit that I enjoyed the rantings of an Anthony LaPaglia music store manager the first time around, but as I watched it over and over that its hip oeuvre got tiresome.

Baumbach had never attempted to force a kind of hip demeaning ouvre onto us. His writing only does the oppesite. We are given only subtle pop culture references, but that is only underlined by Baumbach's dead on sarchasm. We, the audience, are never forced into believing each character's flaw, but we embrace each character's flaw. We embrace Otis's letting go and taking a chance with grad school. We embrace Max's desire to live in a bleak future.

What is dead on is Skippy's philosophical diatribe about education. "It's our responsibility to educate ourselves." Skippy is right. We try to educate ourselves like the characters in Kicking and Screaming. Baumbach uses each character as a little part of ourselves for justifying our post graduate angst.

[tavernier]

Baumbach had never attempted to force a kind of hip demeaning ouvre onto us. His writing only does the oppesite. We are given only subtle pop culture references, but that is only underlined by Baumbach's dead on sarchasm.

I never thought I'd see the word "subtle" describe Noah Baumbach's filmmaking....twice, in fact. Will wonders never cease?

[carax09]

Hey Tavernier,

Enough with the smartass one-liners, already. If you have something interesting to say, give it a shot. Otherwise... There's nothing more soul deadening than to have someone (John Cope, Justeleblanc, Maxbelmont, et al.) write something heartfelt and with substance, to have it undermined by one of your pithy little jabs.
Earlier, you mentioned your conspiracy theory for K&S's inclusion in the NYFF. Do you have a similar explanation for it's upcoming inclusion in the CC? Even Rosenbaum is in on it! How far does this thing reach? Are you in NYC? Let us know if you see Baumbach eating lunch with the Saudis...

[John Cope]

In respect to the whole "subtle" thing: I assume what Tavernier is talking about is the fact that Baumbach's subject matter is all text/no subtext; he's not attempting to disguise his primary concerns and it may seem self indulgent to those not inclined. Well, I can partially see that. As I said before, this film does resonate with me greatly and I do relate to it perhaps more than I would like. I can imagine that these characters may come across poorly to someone made of sterner stuff but for those of us who still occasionally lap at the fount of self pity and bemoan a societal structure which is designed explicitly to not accomodate our impractical interests this film is the comforting proof that we are not alone.

Anyway, I would like to reference one specific scene as evidence of the fact that Kicking and Screaming does traffic in a very specific kind of subtlety, one that is character based and reaches out beyond the generic set up. This has to do with the ending, however, so be forewarned and turn away now if you hate spoilers.

The main character, Grover, has been separated from his girlfriend for almost a year and, on impulse, goes to the airport to get a ticket out of the country to see her. He explains to the woman at the ticket desk why he needs to be allowed to get on the departing flight and what a romantic gesture it will be seen as. She is moved and finds a spot for him. Only then we discover that, in the headrush of his spontaneous act, he has left behind the proper documents he needs. He will have to wait till tomorrow. And Grover leaves with a bemused smile. The music here is slightly melancholy and it is the only real indicator of Baumbach's hand. Otherwise there is an expectation at work that we understand what this moment means. We have seen enough of Grover over the course of the film to recognize and be saddened by the fact that he will never go on that plane. This moment of abandon was the only one he will allow himself. The awareness we have that he and his friends (and a lot of us viewing the film) are the kind who are often hamstrung by indecision under the pretext of "thinking it through" disturbs and disheartens. This awareness is arrived at through subtlety and not through overstatement.

Oh, and the final scene is superb as well; a quiet and confident character moment that builds on the above observation. It is the perfect evocation of the kind of wistful memories we cherish, small and precise.

[justeleblanc]

all text/no subtext;

You bring up good points, and the text/no subtext reminds me of one of Chris Eigeman's speeches in Barcelona.

Also,

SpoilerShow

I love how K & S ends in a flashback.

[justeleblanc]

Sorry I couldn't comment fully (late for work) to your post earlier...

The airport scene is a perfect example of Baumbach's subtleties, to me it's equivalent to the heartbreaking scene in Squid when the father is trying to cook dinner and the carrots are getting cold on the younger brother's plate.

[Tommy Sleeb]

Holy crap, how did I miss this? I haven't been checking the board much of late, but wow. While maybe not the "best" film ever made, it is one of my very favorites. And I have to say that I predicted this here years ago, shortly before Matt (wisely) dissallowed idle speculation in the main threads section. My guess was based as much on Baumbach's participation in the commentary for Sullivan's Travels (and the fact he was writing Life Aquatic with Wes). Well, this really made my week. Cool. First Dazed and Confused, now this. Who'd a thunk?

[Narshty]

Backside

[Guest]

The performances are beautifully tuned throughout to this melancholy situation, never over selling it or failing to tap into the noxious potentials of each character. These are very flawed, often weak and pathetic people, whom Baumbach never makes fun of but observes with discreet affection. The central love story between Josh Hamilton and Olivia d'Abo is carefully handled, not drowning in Reality Bites style uber-cool. The flashback structure is a rudimentary one but it builds this relationship within a series of sensitive asides that complement the main action. It's not super sophisticated but it does not need to be, and, in fact, should not be. As I said, nothing is ever over stressed and this is part of what makes the ending so profoundly touching (I am often moved to tears by it). Baumbach does not sentimentalize what happens but we understand in those final moments the monumentality of Grover's quiet gesture, just how much has been foregone and just how significant a moment, a brief window of opportunity we allow ourselves, can be. I am utterly amazed that someone could watch those scenes and find them emotionally insufficient.

That is the key. There are plenty of movies that have many quotable moments (though I would argue few that have more than this) but its the genuine relationships throughout that make this film so affecting to me. Even conversations between Grover and his father. It never seems contrived at all.

Like John Cope, I hoped for this to somehow make it to Criterion, but never really thought it would happen. I am thrilled to bits about this.

[Gigi M.]

Beaver

[Cinesimilitude]

ooh! anamorphic menus! finally!

[Gigi M.]

Savant

[colinr0380]

There's a touching and personal review of Kicking and Screaming on the Not Coming site.

[Gigi M.]

Here's another review posted at DVDTown.

[colinr0380]

[quote]“Kicking and Screamingâ€

[scalesojustice]

[quote]I can't say that I loved the movie, but I'm glad Baumbach's debut feature is now available so some lucky film student this fall can write his first grad school paper on the director's “career arc.â€

[justeleblanc]

[quote="colinr0380"][quote]“Kicking and Screamingâ€

[souvenir]

Did anyone else notice this in the booklet?

Baumbach also chose a new font for the credits and intertitles, which were digitally inserted into Criterion's master

I guess it's not a big deal, but the font used is very boring anyway so I wonder how bad the original could have been. Very nitpicky, but why alter something after a decade?