Movie Review: The Peanut Butter Falcon

The Peanut Butter Falcon was a movie we were familiar with due to Conshohocken-native Aaron Scotti having served as an executive producer on the film. When it was originally released last year, we had spoken with Scotti and published a couple of articles about his career in Hollywood and the film.

However, we actually had the chance to watch the film, until Tuesday night.

The film pairs Zack Gottsagen’s Zak with Shia LaBeouf’s Tyler for a journey through the tidewater region of North Carolina. Gottsagen’s Zak, who is a young adult with Downs syndrome, runs away from the assisted living facility to follow the dream of attending a professional wrestling school.

He then crosses paths with the self-destructive Tyler who is on the run from people he had wronged and the law. After some initial reluctance on Tyler’s part, the two start to form a bond due to their both being wanted men.

Another person on their trail is Dakota Johnson’s Eleanor, who works for the assisted living facility Zak escaped from. She reluctantly joins their journey and they start to form a family. All of the characters had experienced a loss and what constitutes a family is a theme that runs throughout the film.

The film definitely has elements of Mark Twain and one particular scene involving a blind man reminded us of the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

If you like feel-good stories, this is absolutely something you will enjoy.

The film is Rated PG-13. It was directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz who also wrote the story.

We give the film four out of five hand sanitizers.