“I Like Movies” Review
Lawrence (Isaiah Lehtinen) is a socially awkward high schooler who gets the job of his dreams at a video store in “I Like Movies”, film from Chandler Levack that has started a theatrical road tour in the United States.
With the fall of Family Video, the last great chain of video stores, in 2021, it’s already clear that there’s an intense nostalgia for this bygone place where you and your friends would peruse the aisles looking for the perfect movie for Friday night. The documentary “The Last Blockbuster” was a big hit on Netflix, Netflix made a one-season sitcom set in a Blockbuster and even characters in “Stranger Things” found work at a Family Video. While the likelihood of video stores coming back into popularity like record stores remains unclear at best, that hasn’t stopped the nostalgia from setting in.
It’s on this nostalgia that filmmaker Chandler Levack has built her first feature film with “I Like Movies”, a critical hit at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival that quickly became popular on cinephile social media pages and apps like Letterboxd. However, unlike other recent depictions of video stores and the film geeks that worship them, “I Like Movies” has a strongly developed sense of emotional range with clever writing, endearing characters and a strong identity as an independent film that makes it one of the best films I’ve seen this year.
In 2002, Lawrence (Isaiah Lehtinen) is a massive movie geek with strong opinions and terrible social skills. Aside from renting videos at the local Sequels Video Store, Lawrence only has one friend in Matt (Percy Hynes White) and the two of them spend their days watching “Saturday Night Live” and working on their school’s senior video. Lawrence has no time for anyone who doesn’t take cinema as seriously as he does with his ego and lack of a filter often gets him in trouble. More than anything, Lawrence wants to go to film school at NYU and get the hell out of his Toronto suburb so he can become the next Paul Thomas Anderson. Seeking money, he gets a job at Sequels and, as he struggles balancing his new job with his other relationships, the deepest insecurities and toxic elements of Lawrence’s character come out in full force.
With most films, it seems easy to sum up what the film is about in a couple of sentences. In the case of “I Like Movies”, this was tougher because the entire film feels like such a natural slice of life. While the basic premise of a kid working in a video store does intrigue the nostalgic side of our brains, it’s what Chandler Levack does with the premise that makes this film an incredible balancing act of comedy and drama.
At the heart of this film is Isaiah Lehtinen’s remarkable performance as Lawrence which is the perfect mix of endearing and despicable. Throughout the film, it’s obvious what Lawrence’s shortcomings are. He’s insanely narcissistic and elitist and thinks that his opinion on cinema is the only one that’s worth a damn. He even has the gall to think that “Shrek” isn’t real cinema. (To All Readers: If you think that “Shrek” isn’t cinema, I will fight you anytime and anyplace and I will fight insanely dirty. I’m talking about Thunderdome here. Two men enter. One man leaves.) What few relationships Lawrence does have, like with his best friend and his mother (Krista Bridges), are built on tension because of his ego and it almost feels like he’s sabotaging them so that he will have nothing to look back on when he leaves his hometown for New York. He is so cocky that he only applied to NYU’s film school (no UCLA, USC, Columbia at Chicago?) and feels that this is the only way that he’ll become a real filmmaker. I wonder if he watched the 1997 episode of Charlie Rose’s show where Paul Thomas Anderson said that he never went to film school.
However, while there is a lot about Lawrence that is unlikable, there is still an attachment to him because he is still relatable, especially if you love movies or are a filmmaker. He has the same passion and love for cinema that many of us have (if he had a Letterboxd account, he would be on that thing like an influencer on Instagram) but it’s just not tempered with reality and humility. So, he comes off as this egotist. As you learn more about this character, you feel for him all the more while still not condoning his harsh comments towards the people in his life. The character of Lawrence is a true testament to how strong Chandler Levack is as a writer and how Isaiah Lehtinen is as an actor. These two found the right way to bring this tricky character to life and he soars marvelously during the film’s 99 minute running time.
Romina D’Ugo’s (Right) performant as Alana is one of the highlights of the film with a strong mix of dramatic moments and comedic levity.
Also worthy of being singled out for praise is Romina D’Ugo and her performance as Alana, the manager of Sequels who Lawrence develops a complicated attachment. When this character is first introduced, she seems like the perfect comedic foil to Lawrence since he’s incredibly stuck up and she tries to be more relaxed, like a “cool boss.” However, as the mentor/mentee relationship deepens, Alana’s character evolves in a way that is not only unexpected but makes her far more meaningful, especially with a monologue that I think rivals Laura Dern’s in “Marriage Story” or Jeremy Allen White’s in the first season finale of “The Bear”.
As writer/director Chandler Levack has such an excellent eye for comedy. “I Like Movies” might not shy away from some heavy subject matter but it’s combined with many moments of hilarity. Characters butt heads, visual gags are made and there are a few tongue-in-cheek nods to the supposed longevity of video stores. I didn’t think you could put the words “mastrubation” and “Goodfellas” together but here we are. I especially got a big laugh when Lawrnce and Matt pretend to film their intros for the “Saturday Night Live” they’ll be hosting because I have done the exact same thing many times. There are many moments to laugh but there are also scenes that will make you gasp.
That’s a big reason why I think this film has left a strong impression on me and will no doubt have the same effect on many other viewers. There’s so much of the film to relate to and that includes both the positive and negative elements of Lawrence. When he says during his job interview that if he doesn’t watch a movie every single day that he’ll die, there’s a part of me that feels the same way but is also aware of how crazy that sounds. “I Like Movies” subjects the audience to looking at their most pretentious selves and having a good laugh at them while also giving that persona room to grow.
It’s also impressive that with the budget of an independent film, “I Like Movies” was able to replicate the overall feel of the early 2000s with such accuracy. The film doesn’t have the budget to completely drench us in the style of 2002 but that’s for the best. It’s better to be simple yet effective with the setting rather than be a caricature. Just look at any recent movie that is set in the 1980s. All the neon, shoulder-pads and leotards can’t save a poor script. As someone who grew up in this time period, “I Like Movies” felt so much like the early 2000s (complete with that unflattering fluorescent lighting in the store) that I didn’t even notice the style of the film. I wouldn’t even call it style, I’d call it submersion.
“I Like Movies” is easily one of my favorites of this year and I’m so glad to see that it is finally seeing a theatrical release in the United States (a road tour set to hit major cities on the East and West coasts). However, I do hope that even more screens open up to this indie darling from Canada. Between Emma Seligman’s hit films “Shiva Baby” and “Bottoms”, the upcoming debut of Ally Pankiw’s comedy “I Used to Be Funny” and Chandler Levack’s “I Like Movies”, there is a wave of women filmmakers coming out of Canada that are going to leave a massive mark on independent cinema. And if a Canadian filmmaker like Denis Villenuve can make the highest grossing film of 2024 so far with “Dune: Part Two”, who’s to say what incredible stuff we could get when a studio gives Chandler Levack a $200 million budget and says “have at it.” Who knows. One thing is for sure, this film and this filmmaker are deserving of massive amounts of success in the near future.
