Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls Take on the World
Moxie
Solid: Hadley Robinson, Amy Poehler, Alycia Pascual-Peña, Patrick Schwarzenegger
Director: Amy Poehler
Yearly we watch tons of of Hollywood movies set round a typical American highschool. Whereas a big chunk of those represent rom-coms, we see quite a lot of buddy comedies and coming of age tales too. Nevertheless, not often has a highschool drama taken the route of Amy Poehler’s new movie Moxie.
Poehler, who additionally stars within the movie, introduces us to a gaggle of younger ladies who get uninterested in the rampant sexism and misogyny of their highschool and determine to combat again. The movie follows Vivian Carter (Robinson), a shy and introvert lady who doesn’t need to get on anybody’s ‘radar.’ She believes in placing her head down and ignoring her bullies until they stroll away. Nevertheless, when she sees a brand new scholar Lucy Hernandez (Pena) combat again after getting harassed by their star athlete Mitchell Wilson (Schwarzenegger), she begins to take discover of how poisonous the college actually is. When the annual ‘checklist’ is launched, the place the boys grade the ladies based on their appears and physique elements, Vivian decides to take motion. Impressed by her mom (Poehler), who was a insurgent at highschool, she anonymously varieties a Moxie membership. When extra younger ladies present solidarity, the Moxie membership turns into a motion.
The movie doesn’t waste a lot time within the set-up, we shortly see Mitchell Wilson being condescending and violent. In a approach, he’s misogyny personified. The Principal of the college can also be complicit. In a scene the place Lucy complaints about being harassed by Mitchell, she asks her to not name it ‘harassment’ or else she must do quite a lot of paperwork. She additionally commonly upholds double requirements within the title of established order, punishing ladies for carrying tank tops, whereas letting the boys get away with their leering and sniggering as a result of they ‘might be boys.’
Even when quite a lot of these scenes really feel like they occurred inside a day as a substitute of a span of time, what Moxie does is take you again to your individual college. It reminds you of the instances your lecturers shamed you when your skirt’s size fell above your knees or when going by puberty nearly felt shameful as a result of your male classmates took the freedom of speaking about your physique. Therefore when all the ladies within the film draw hearts and stars on their hand to point out solidarity, present as much as college carrying tank tops and organise a ‘stroll out’ to protest a sexual assault, you need to be part of it. There’s something common about Moxie, and even when your individual experiences had been totally different from these proven within the movie, in a approach they had been the identical.
Moxie is a movie that makes you’re feeling courageous. Personally, I didn’t need to watch the movie and dissect it. I simply needed to observe it, smile, and want for a revolution after I was in class.
After all the movie isn’t excellent, some scenes really feel a bit of jarring. For example, Vivian and her crush Seth Acosta have a date night time at a funeral residence, and spend time listening to songs inside a casket. Is that the brand new cool or have we run out of meet-cutes? As a result of no thanks.
Steve Acosta’s story-line as a feminist ally is great to take a look at, however we’d have appreciated a date within the park too. There may be additionally the underutilised cameo of Clark Gregg as Vivian’s mom’s boyfriend. In a few sequences, Vivian is extraordinarily merciless to him as a result of her life is ‘falling aside.’ Nevertheless, we by no means see an arc for that storyline. It’s handled because the confrontation, however the decision is one thing solely totally different. There may be additionally a sexual assault plot however I really feel it is available in actually late within the movie and is rushed to be made into an apt climax.
Nevertheless, the appeal of the movie isn’t within the story, however the way it makes you’re feeling. It has so many healthful sequences that make your coronary heart full. There’s a significantly refreshing scene, the place the English trainer (Ike Barinholtz) reads the official assertion of the college which penalises the Moxie membership after which exhibits his palms with stars and hearts drawn, as a type of solidarity. Moxie can also be extraordinarily inclusive and talks about numerous points that lie inside feminism, be it immigration or incapacity.
Watch Moxie with your folks and put together to be emotional. It is a crucial movie. It won’t be excellent, it could be fantastical, however it’s important.
Ranking: 4/5
