The Peanut Butter Falcon – a story of friendship and compassion

08 Feb The Peanut Butter Falcon – a story of friendship and compassion

The French sign-off ‘tendrement’ is the quality of my mood after seeing the most beautiful and amazing movie – The Peanut Butter Falcon, at Cinema Nova this afternoon. It was a little emotionally challenging at the beginning. I wasn’t sure what kind of B-grade piece of daytime television it was going to be. But the story quickly became very interesting when the main protagonist, Zak, a boy with Down Syndrome escapes from a retirement home and hits the road.

Along the way he meets, Tyler, a misfit with a wounded soul on the run. A unique friendship develops between the two unlikely characters. Hilarity, suspense, and tenderness ensue. The film is not afraid of tugging on the heartstrings or really getting to know the characters. It was beautiful and fun, and lovely.

Directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, my friend thought it might be based on a true story. The acting was superb. Zack Gottsagen played Zak and Shia LeBoeuf played Tyler. There was also a fantastic supporting cast including Dakota Johnson from Fifty Shades of Grey playing Eleanor and Thomas Haden Church, who I understand is from Ned and Stacey playing the wrestler Saltwater Redneck.

It is the kind of movie that shows the power of friendship, compassion, and tenacity. It left me feeling encouraged by the capacity of human kindness. Always a good thing!! The world needs more of it!