I Like Movies

There have been quite a few movies recently about movies, or people's love of movies. Last year gave us Spielberg's self indulgent "The Fabelmans;" "5-25-77;" was  Patrick Read Johnson's film obsessed story; the grotesque mess of "Babylon;" and "Empire of Light." It's never enough to stand around screaming "I Like Movies;" you need to care about the characters who are doing the screaming. Which brings me to Chandler Levack's wonderful film, "I Like Movies." Set in the early part of the 2000s, its central character is Lawrence (played by Isaiah Lehtinen). Lawrence LOVES movies and wants to go to NYU for film studies but has no money. So he gets a job at his local Blockbuster-style video store where he can wax poetically about Todd Solondz's "Happiness" or Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch Drunk Love." We care about Lawrence but at times we might not even like him very much - he is down right mean to his best friend Matt. However, Lawrence leans heavily into the spectrum.- his socialize awareness is horribly lacking, plus he comes with lots of heavy baggage and a slightly overprotective mother. As a result, we sympathize with him - Lawrence feels real, fully 3D and it speaks to the quality of Chandler Levack's writing. Lawrence's boss at the video store, Alana (Romina D'Ugo) is also damaged goods and Romina D'Ugo gives us a great performance. I really liked this Canadian film - it makes fun of Canadian film! If you like movies, then please go check out "I Like Movies" in a Canadian theatre near you.