At first glance My Old Ass, now playing, seems to suffer from the ‘Gilmore Girls syndrome’ that has plagued smart dramatic writing since the heyday of Michigan J. Frog. Young adults conversing with the emotional intelligence, and knowledge of decades of pop culture, more typically familiar to their adult creators’ age bracket. In writer/director/former child actor Megan Park’s buzzy new movie, this discrepancy fortunately serves a greater thematic purpose. The message seems to be that our younger selves, even with idealism and naivete, are more emotionally and socially mature than we are when we’re aged, cynical, and world-weary.
Maisy Stella stars as Elliott, who seems to be living the dream as summer draws to a close. Her parents are decently wealthy, as her father owns a considerable amount of the land they’re vacationing on (for now). She’s gearing up to start big city college next month, and she’s been having canoe cuddle dates with the register chick at the lakeside convenience store. More importantly, her friends Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler) and Ro (Kerrice Brooks) have scored a bag of questionable botanical psychadelics for Elliott’s birthday celebration that night. Around the campfire she will come face-to-face with adulthood, literally. Her completely nonplussed adult self spontaneously appears next to her in the form of Aubrey Plaza. After the initial fright, Maisy Elliott comes to accept the visitation as a hallucination. She pesters her older self like she were a newly met aunt, not paying much attention to her older self’s countenance, before falling asleep next to her in her tent. Young Elliott wakes up alone the next morning and goes about her day refreshed, if a bit hungover — but soon she makes a discovery. Her older self entered her future phone number in Young Elliott’s phone as “my old ass,” and the phone number still works as a direct line to the future. Younger Elliott’s questions suddenly become sincere and important. How does she go from being chipper, optimistic, and blonde to…Aubrey Plaza? The only thing they seem to have in common is perfect dry delivery. But edge-of-40-Elliott has only one central piece of advice: avoid someone named Chad.
A lesser film would concern itself the least bit with the logic of what is occurring and how. Fortunately, Park’s script (yes she pulls double duty) eschews such traps. It’s basically last year’s All of Us Strangers mixed with the witty writing of Gilmore Girls without the missteps and poseur energy its imitators tend to default to. In the Paul Mescal part, Percy Hynes White shows up as the aforementioned Chad just after his coming was prophesied. White is basically the opposite of who one would picture as bearing that name. A skinny, fast talking, charming young guy with a manbun (not because he’s a hipster, but to tie back the hair he doesn’t bother to cut). White manages not to disappoint if you’re open to the film digressing away from its more fantastical possibilities. It’s easy to see why he tempts Elliott in ways she never expected, and to go against her actual future self’s cryptic warning. The romance forms the majority of the movie, as Plaza basically disappears until the last scene. Luckily it’s very cute and charming. In perhaps the film’s best scene, Elliott doses again and fails to see her older self as she’d hoped, but instead has a long-held fantasy involving Justin Bieber.
The reason the movie is still a winner despite the fantasy plot being kind of an afterthought is because all the young actors are so good, and hopefully have bright futures. Maisy Stella is genuinely great. Some of her throwaway reactions and deadpan double-takes sell her future starpower. Definitely renew the annual grant to the government lab that spliced Moretz and Pugh’s genes together. White also straight up rules in a role that should sour the film. As Plaza dips out for the majority of the runtime, he comes in and sells the heck out of manic pixie dream boy. I also personally found Park’s light, energetic touch more enjoyable than the average jaunt from Amy Sherman Palladino or her disciples. I’d go so far to say a better comparison is Bottoms, with Ass doing for bisexuals what Bottoms did for lesbians last year. And by that I mean more than just making a guy who is neither of those demographics thoroughly enjoy himself. While it doesn’t have the madcap Zucker vibe of Bottoms, Ass is breezy and funny with a little bit of edge, and a refreshing frankness and relatable wit. It’s also appreciably short, coming in just shy of 90 minutes, the ideal time for any comedy.
Ultimately, Elliott has to come to terms with her cynical, beaten down, unblonded older version and confront whether it’s worth the pain of having lived and loved than etc etc. Adult Elliott wishes she could unexperience much of the life she’s lived. Younger Elliott has to decide whether the journey is worth the destination, and in so doing could show we only get younger with time, at least in spirit, etc etc.
Ignore the trailer potentially selling more of a quirky sci-fi fantasy comedy. I can confidently say it’s the best film to see this weekend with Aubrey Plaza in a central supporting role.
Directed by Megan Park
Written by Megan Park
Starring Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler
Rated R, 89 minutes
