Netflix’s Too Previous for Fairy Tales is a Polish comedy that wishes to be about critical issues with out getting too critical about them. It plops a boy with a budding “profession” in esports in a plot involving the goofy finest pal, the lady he has a crush on, the mother with a critical ailment and the loony auntie who’s taking good care of him. Sure, all this has a well-known ring to it, however perhaps it’ll wring a bit comedy and pathos from a boilerplate state of affairs.
The Gist: In plucky first-person voiceover accompanied by a plink-plonk musical rating that may most likely be discovered within the public area underneath “household comedy film,” Waldek (Maciej Karas) tells us all about himself: He’s an “e-athlete” who competes in Robotic Rampage online game tournaments, on a group together with his finest pal Staszek (Patryk Siemek). Waldek doesn’t say it, however we are able to see that his physicality could possibly be described as, within the parlance of the occasions I grew up in, which was admittedly some time in the past, “husky.” And par for the course, I assume, he’s bombing gymnasium class. His mother, Tereska (Karolina Gruszka), allows the boy, feeding him fudge and shopping for his Robotic Rampage group costly embroidered personalised varsity-style jackets. Possibly she’s doing the overcompensating-single-mom factor. She’s positively an excellent mother. A loving mother. An overprotective mother, who received’t let Waldek cross the road by himself despite the fact that he’s well past the age of functionality. And is she a tragic mother whose hair seems type of bizarre as a result of it’s a wig as a result of she has most cancers? Certainly she is.
However Waldek doesn’t know that scary reality but. Tereska fibs and says she has to go away city for some time to go to a hospital for some “assessments,” leaving the boy within the care of Loopy Aunt Mariola (Dorota Kolak), who has the requisite large hair, colourful wardrobe and baffling quirk, on this case, a harness she attaches to the ceiling so she will be able to gown like a parachuter and float proper there within the kitchen. Wotta psycho. Mariola instantly enforces a well being and health regime on Waldek: numerous bicycling and greens, extra scrubbing the bathroom, much less vegging in entrance of the pc. Waldek whines to Staszek that she’s mentally abusive, and he could have a degree, since she calls him a “chubby klutz,” though the general tone of Mariola is that of a heat, lovingly strict aunt, so perhaps one thing’s misplaced within the Polish-to-English translation of that one. Or not?
Anyway, that is the state of affairs, and the 2 main plotlines – will Tereska be OK, a looming Robotic Rampage match – type of simmer within the background whereas we get some perfunctory frivolously comedio-dramatic scenes of household life and light-weight hijinks. You already know, Waldek and Staszek changing into discombooberated by a lady (Amelia Fijalkowska), Waldek sneaking out to take a bus to the hospital to see his mother, Waldek absorbing a few of his grandfather’s (Andrzej Grabowski) knowledge, and many others. There are failures and triumphs and embarrassments and conserving on of the conserving ons, as a result of that’s life for a boy, I assume.
What Films Will It Remind You Of?: TOfFT attracts from ’80s/’90s household comedies a la Adventures in Babysitting perhaps, or Jumanji, with a really A Christmas Story, Sandlotty child voiceover.
Efficiency Price Watching: A veteran with a prolonged resume of Polish TV and movie, Kolak makes positive her character is hotter than she is stern, and endearingly bizarre with out going OTT. She could possibly be the Polish Imelda Staunton.
Memorable Dialogue: This Waldek voiceover is one thing else: “The fixed bodily exertion will need to have brought about precipitation of magnesium and mind acidification. Every little thing in my mind obtained fermented and blended up.”
Intercourse and Pores and skin: None, though an more and more hormonal Staszek eyeballs some women in bikinis.
Our Take: Too Previous for Fairy Tales is endearingly free, typically emphasizing scenes of Youngsters Being Youngsters as an alternative of mercilessly driving the plot ahead. The emotional state of Waldek and Tereska simply simmers quietly, ready to not likely be wholly resolved, as a result of when in actuality is these items simply tied up neatly with a bow? Not that that is as profoundly observational as My Neighbor Totoro or something, however it’s good to see a film sit back a bit and discover its characters.
However “good” is the strongest descriptor I can conjure for this film, which is ever so barely too meandering for its personal good, and leans too closely on cliches and familiarities. (It by no means reaches full-blown diddlefarting territory, however it comes shut.) After all Waldek will heat to Loopy Aunt Mariola, who isn’t completely loopy, and naturally there might be quasi-profound small moments of studying for our protagonist, as a result of he’s being whiplashed from arrested improvement to maturity. You hate to see youngsters develop up too quick, and Waldek grinds the gears like all child would.
Our Name: STREAM IT. Too Previous for Fairy Tales is a feelgood/feelsad principally comedy that by no means will get too humorous or too tragic. It’s not at all times memorable, and has pacing points, however it’s a suitable look ahead to anybody searching for barely heavy however principally mild household fodder.
John Serba is a contract author and movie critic based mostly in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Learn extra of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com.
