Featured DVD Review: Flower

June 18, 2018

Flower - Buy from Amazon: DVD
 Video on Demand

Flower

Flower got off to an amazing start in limited release, opening in the $10,000 club. However, it collapsed as soon as it tried to expand. Is it as good as its opening weekend? Or did it collapse for a good reason?

The Movie

We first meet 17-year old Erica performing sex acts on a police officer for money. She’s not a prostitute exactly, as she really makes her money from her friends, Kala and Claudine, recording these sex acts and then blackmailing the men. She’s not just doing this for pocket money, although she and her friend do go on a shopping spree with the cash. She’s also saving up the money to bail her dad out of prison. This is something she really wants to do, because her mother, Laurie, is getting serious with her new boyfriend, Bob, and Erica really doesn’t like Bob. There is someone Erica is interested in, Will, a teacher at her school. Considering what she does for money, it’s not surprising she has a thing for an older man. It is also not surprising her friends give her grief about it.

That evening, Bob’s son, Luke, gets out of rehab and at first Erica is horrified. It’s also pretty clear right away that Luke isn’t ready to be out of rehab either. When Luke has a panic attack in the restaurant, Erica goes to help him. Laurie has to bribe her, but she tries to be empathetic. In her own way. Eventually, the two actually connect when Erica takes him to the bowling alley for some real food. It looks like they are going to be a happy family, until Luke sees something and has another panic attack and leaves. That night, Luke tries to commit suicide by hanging himself, but Erica interrupts him and he lives.

While at the hospital, Bob and Erica begin talking and Bob tells Erica that Luke has had issues ever since he accused a teacher of molesting him and the police decided there wasn’t enough evidence. What set him off today was seeing his molester, but Luke refuses to tell his dad where he saw him. However, Erica saw him have a panic attack and knows the last person he saw before that happened was Will. The Police might not believe Luke, but Erica does and she and her friends look to get some revenge.

Since this is a bunch of teenagers trying to take down a teacher, you can guess it doesn’t go smoothly, but the details are spoilers.

Flower is a movie that is frustratingly close to being great. The film has an amazing cast and there’s not a weak performance in the group, while Zoey Deutch is incredible in the lead. However, the script really needed another pass or two to be as good as the performances. The screenwriters never manage to make Erica feel human and instead she comes across as a screenwriters’ creation. The film also switches in tone from comedy to the more darker aspects without enough dexterity, which is enough of a problem on its own. Then the film tries for a happy ending that feels completely unearned. I don’t mind movies that have tonal shifts like this, but it is delicate work to make these shifts happen organically and it just doesn’t work in this movie.

That said, for many, the acting will make the film worth watching, despite the jarring changes, at least once.

The Extras

The only extra on the DVD is an audio commentary track with the director, Max Winkler, and the star, Zoey Deutch. That’s not a lot of extras, but better than many limited releases get.

The Verdict

Flower is a dark comedy that careens from the comedy to darker elements and that hurts its overall quality. The script needed another pass, but the acting is strong enough that it is worth checking out; however, I would go with a Video on Demand rental rather and a DVD purchase.

Filed under: Video Review, Flower, Kathryn Hahn, Adam Scott, Max Winkler, Tim Heidecker, Zoey Deutch, Joey Morgan, Dylan Gelula, Maya Eshet