As we age, it’s important to place value in the small moments of life, as they contribute deep merit and more significant implications for the person we become later in life. With this in mind, the willingness to accept what British author Rachel Joyce calls “the incongruity of things”: where a small moment can sit side by side with a big one, and become part of the same, is vital to understanding Melissa B. Miller-Costanzo’s film “All These Small Moments.”
Making her directorial debut, Miller-Costanzo throws it all in there—schmaltz, humor, sadness and more, as she devises a script brimming with sentimentality. With her touching portrait of naivete and the necessity of “hard times,” Miller-Costanzo imbues a potent storyline with bursts of humor and hues of wonder, thus striking a chord of authenticity and comforting resonance within the viewer.
A coming-of-age tale set in New York City, “All These Small Moments” focuses on a teenage boy named Howie (Brendan Meyer), whose life seems to be falling apart as his parents tumble towards a messy divorce. Meanwhile, Howie grows infatuated with a woman (Jemima Kirke) much older than he is whom he sees on the bus to school every day, which only further complicates his already tumultuous adolescence. Molly Ringwald and Brian d’Arcy James play Howie’s parents, while Sam McCarthy plays his antagonistic younger brother, and Harley Quinn Smith plays Howie’s classmate.
As the plot unfolds, every moment, both awkward and confusing, proves to be a whirlwind for Howie, as he must not only grow up quickly but learn to find peace of mind within the small pains of life. Whether it be the impending divorce of his parents or his conflicting romantic feelings toward the women around him, audiences are presented with a humble and touching portrait of merely growing up.
On the surface, “All These Small Moments” may come across like any usual, humdrum, family-in-crisis coming-of-age feature, and that’s true for the most part. Now, while exploring familial dissension proves most striking when the topic is rendered involvingly dark and emotional (“Louder Than Bombs,” “Ordinary People”), Miller-Costanzo’s debut feature is unique in that it maintains a more light-hearted posture while reaffirming the inherent desire of familial unity.
Unfortunately, “All These Small Moments” also tends to fall into waters saturated in maudlin extravagancies. The film’s cliche sentimentality ultimately contributes to a relatively safe experience, and that’s the biggest detractor of Miller-Costanzo’s film. There are numerous chances for the director to subvert genre tropes, but the film fails to capitalize on each opportunity. “All These Small Moments” could easily stand for a more brazen approach to the outcomes of a couple of conventional plot points,
Despite being overly tidy and commonplace in its plot, Miller-Costanzo succeeds in deliberately avoiding resolution, and while that’s bound to frustrate people, it’s key to the movie’s payoff. As the filmmaker focuses equally on the pains of each character within her film, the viewer is placed in ambiguity, pondering over which way the director is taking the plot. Although a frustrating tactic considering the level of familiarity with similar-spirited projects, the viewer is meant to experience all of these conflicting viewpoints, age gaps, and perspectives, not be given cheap life lessons. But it works, in order to explore the complexity of characters’ feelings when confronted with difficult times like divorce or irrational infatuation.
Once the film’s final moments rears its head, Howie finally takes it upon himself in a sign of maturation, to trustingly navigate through what are ultimately small obstacles within the process of growing up. As Howie finally accepts that he is at the mercy of the world, one thing remains clear for both Howie and viewers—grief, no matter how big, will forever shape us and the intricacies of our memory, perception, and sense of self. [B]
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