The Peanut Butter Falcon

The Peanut Butter Falcon casts Zack Gottsagen as Zak, a young man with Down’s syndrome who escapes from the nursing home in which he resides and eventually embarks on a journey alongside Shia LaBeouf’s troubled Tyler. There’s little doubt that The Peanut Butter Falcon improves steadily as it progresses, as the movie manages to overcome a somewhat lackadaisical and overly deliberate opening stretch to become an unexpectedly captivating road-trip picture – with the film’s second act dominated by irresistible encounters and set-pieces (eg Tyler’s conversation with a small-town store owner). It’s clear, too, that the almost astonishingly compelling chemistry between Gottsagen and LaBeouf plays a key role in confirming The Peanut Butter Falcon‘s success, as the two actors deliver stellar work that perpetually elevates the material and paves the way for a feel-good finale. (As impressive as Gottsagen is here, LaBeouf’s often spellbindingly commanding turn remains an ongoing highlight.) And while the whole thing does fizzle out to a slight extent in its final third – the film’s low-key pleasures are diminished somewhat by the addition of a third person and a wrestling-focused climax – The Peanut Butter Falcon is nevertheless a mostly compelling little drama that fares better than one might’ve expected.

*** out of ****