Language Lessons
Starring Natalie Morales (Carino) and Mark Duplass (Adam); Written by Mark Duplass; Written and Directed by Natalie Morales
SCREENPLAY: A
The film’s first scene is wonderful. It’s funny, frenetic, and charmingly awkward. With it, director Natalie Morales (who has made an incredible one-two directorial debut this year - she also directed Plan B) offers her hand, assuring us that her ninety minute long video chatting movie isn’t going to bore you. I took her hand, and I am happy I did. She’s legit.
Adam’s occasional fumbling of the Spanish language creates much of the comedy. He thinks he’s saying one thing when he’s really, really not. His search for each right word is a search for common ground with Carino. That search becomes a template for all the other conflicts in the film, each one slowly rising in stakes and seriousness.
Of course, we wouldn’t really care about the tension if we didn’t find these characters engaging. Since Morales and Duplass conjured these characters, we shouldn’t be surprised that they are so interesting. Adam is a gushingly sensitive puppy dog. He’s an open book while Carino is more chameleonic. Sometimes her book is open, but other times she’s hiding the book entirely. These differences electrify every encounter, making us want to know everything about them.
ACTING: A-
Duplass (The One I Love, The Mindy Project), plays Adam as an authentic mix of goofy, gentle, a bit naive, and wounded. He stares long into the camera, making you feel seen, understood, and accepted. This makes you believe Carino does, as well. Over the course of his career Duplass has played many different characters. But they all have this powerful ocean of empathy floating within them. Duplass is an expert at expressing empathy. His fantastic book (Like Brothers, co-written with his brother, Jay) shows that his deep levels of empathy are no act.
Natalie Morales (Dead to Me, Parks and Recreation) is wonderful as well. At times she equally matches Adam’s empathy. Other times she uses her eyes, posture and position as a wall. Morales and Duplass's written script is a written plan intended to keep people engaged while watching a ninety minute conversation. Having a plan is one thing. It’s another to execute it, which they do. Their performances are great. An ode to the power of self-awareness.
CRAFT: A
There are some people who would rather stand in line at the DMV for an hour and half than watch another Zoom or quarantine movie. I’m typically on that list. But as I said earlier, the first scene melts away any misgivings. And those misgivings never return. The characters rarely log on from the same room, so the background constantly changes. The same goes for the hairstyles and clothes. The camera angles also shift, at times making us laugh. It’s a daunting task to make a movie like this, and many have failed. Language Lessons is a lesson for anyone out there wanting to make this kind of movie.
EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER DESIGN: A+
This movie will make you experience nearly every emotion our language has a name for. The characters’ relationship is platonic (Adam identifies as gay, which is a brilliantly effective narrative choice), but the movie has much in common with rom-coms. Carino and Adam’s meet cute is the meet cutest. We root for them not to come together romantically, but as two human beings who would be bettered by having the other in their lives.
Adam bares his soul. Every emotion is so strong it seems to leave droplets on the camera lens, like blood in a war film. We live in a world where it is so easy to throw vitriol and dehumanize others online. Duplass’s performance seems to suggest that it may be, not easy, but possible to lean just as heavily the other way. Isn’t it easier sometimes to bare your soul to a stranger than a loved one? What better way to do that than online?
FINAL COMMENTS:
Duplass and Morales set out to make an entertaining movie about the power of connection. They made it at a time when the ability to make connections felt low in supply.
Big questions are raised. How does physical distance affect our ability to make true connections? What about our philosophical differences? And if we are able to connect despite those differences, can it be done by reaching out through a screen? This gentle, little movie has a lot to say about these questions. Its answers aren’t always neat, but that’s the way life is. The movie shines a light on these questions, pointing not toward answers but to possible strategies.
The biggest triumph of this film is how entertaining it is. I was reminded of the film Locke. Filmed years before the pandemic, Tom Hardy drives around in his car talking on his cell phone the entire time. We never see the voices on the other end of his line. And it’s great.
This is a great film, too. I cannot recommend it enough. Its message comes through loud and clear, and while it’s a little pie in the sky at times, glossing over some real hurdles, it genuinely moves the needle away from isolation and willful ignorance to connection and empathy. And that’s a good thing.
FINAL GRADE: A
*** If you like Language Lessons, consider checking out: Plan B, Blue Jay, Locke.