Teenager Lawrence Kweller (Isaiah Lehtinen) is obsessed with films in I Like Movies. So much so, that he’s made it his entire personality. But behind the obnoxious gate keeping, Lawrence may be struggling with hurt that only movies can save him from.
I Like Movies
Chandler Levack (director and writer), Rico Moran (cinematography), Simone Smith (editor)
Isaiah Lehtinen, Romina D’Ugo, Krista Bridges, Percy Hynes White, Alex Ateah, Andy McQueen (cast)
September 9, 2022 (TIFF)
Content warning: sexual assault
I really wanted to like I Like Movies but I just couldn’t get into it. We’ve seen this same story, this same protagonist a million times before. In About a Boy, Boyhood, Ready Player One, on Twitter and Discord and Twitch. The white boy who’s passionate about music/ video games/ pop culture/ films/ insert whatever who makes that interest his entire personality to the detriment of his relationships with literally everyone in his life. He’s narcissistic, apathetic about everyone else’s feelings, and so obsessed with his own pseudo-intellectualism that he uses it as an excuse to be rude and sexist. Lawrence is a handful of steps away from being an incel, rabidly posting on Reddit. Forgive me, but I didn’t need to see this type of boy as a protagonist yet again.
I Like Movies does try and subvert the genre by fleshing out other characters, particularly female characters. And it’s not like Lawrence is always rewarded for his behaviour (unlike in Ready Player One). But he’s just so insufferable that it made me want to leave the theatre.
That’s clearly not how the rest of the press and industry audience felt at the screening I attended! There was a round of applause as the credits rolled. This gave me pause and I really had to think about where the disconnect was just me. I didn’t see myself in Lawrence. He’s exactly the kind of person I’d hate to encounter. I did see myself in his put-upon colleagues and his abandoned friends. But I realize that to a lot of Canadian viewers, Lawrence is a familiar soul. (Writer/director Chandler Levak herself is a Canadian filmmaker, after all.)
A Burlington native, Lawrence dreams of bigger things than just being a ‘Canadian filmmaker’. He wants to go to NYU, not some Canadian university. For people who grew up in the suburbs and had big dreams which were quashed by things like money and chance, I Like Movies must hit close to home. Since I’m a new immigrant and from another part of the world, I couldn’t quite relate. I’d have much rather followed Alana (Romina D’Ugo), Lawrence’s boss, than him. Every time Alana revealed more information about herself, I wished we could have seen her story and how she came to not like movies.
Despite cringing at the obnoxious antics of the protagonist, I Like Movies features some stellar acting. Isaiah Lehtinen (Deadly Class) does a disturbingly good job of making Lawrence utterly unlikable and annoying. The expressions, the timing of his film-related diatribes, even his ill-timed emotional moments are expertly delivered. Lehtinen is definitely one to watch. Percy Hynes White, who I have not seen since the X-Men spin-off The Gifted was canceled, brings his usual brand of humour to the character of Mark, Lawrence’s best friend.
I Like Movies was clearly not for me. But it will appeal to a lot of audiences. It’s completely sold out at TIFF and the P&I screening ran out of room (I was wisely advised by my sister to queue an hour before to get my seat). There’s some great acting in this film and the story will resonate with certain groups. But if I compare it to last year’s Scarborough, that was also set in Ontario, I Like Movies has too narrow a focus in terms of it’s story and the cast of characters aren’t diverse or compelling enough to keep me riveted.
