Rob Reiner, who gained fame and fortune as "Meathead," in "All in the Family," grew up to carry a light and lovely touch as a writer and director, very much like that of Jean Shepherd, who wrote radio plays about the Midwest as no one else did. Reiner, responsible for "The Princess Bride," and "Stand By Me," scores again with "Flipped," but I think it's more a story about children for grown-ups than for children.
Grown-ups will visualize and fantasize about the perfect lives they lived. Children will be too busy growing up to have patience with the older generation.
"Flipped," from a young adult novel by Wendelin Van Draanen, is a story of life, told through some 15 years by Juli, a smart, headstrong girl who falls for Bryce the minute she sees him step off the moving van and into her life, and by Bryce, scared half to death and busily practicing "strategic avoidance" to protect his turf, and avoid showing his stupidity in the face of a girl who really cares for him. They alternate being the principal and the narrator, and we progress in about five-year lurches.
Madeline Carroll does lovely work as Juli Baker, and, by the way, is not related to the English beauty, Madeleine Carroll, who was one of Hitchcock's favorites in the 1930s and 40s. She has courage, and smarts, and is willing to challenge authority. Bryce Loski, played by handsome Callan McAuliffe, is a wimp, pressured by his peers and afraid to stand up for what few ideals he possesses.
The children reflect their families, the Bakers tight-knit, loyal and generous, the Loskis often mean-spirited and looking down on their neighbors who lack the same possessions.
Of course, that's the crux of the story, and leave it up to Grandpa Chet Duncan (nifty, if trite, work by John Mahoney). Light and charming, warm-hearted and kind, this is the sort of story that used to run in the Saturday Evening Post. Sadly, it doesn't exist any more, either.
Flipped opens today at the Plaza Frontenac.
--Joe
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