Short Term 12

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton.

2013. Rated R, 97 minutes.

Cast:

Brie Larson

John Gallagher Jr.

Keith Stanfield

Kaitlyn Dever

Rami Malek

Kevin Hernandez

Melora Walters

Stephanie Beatriz

Alex Calloway

Diana-Maria Riva

Grace (Larson) is a twenty-something supervisor at a group home for troubled teens. She cares deeply for the kids she works with and for her boyfriend Mason (Gallagher Jr.), who also works there. Her problems are as follows: the kids are troubled and she doesn't communicate well with her boyfriend about their relationship. We engage Grace on both of those fronts. Among the kids, we focus on Marcus (Stanfield) and Jayden (Dever). Marcus is about to age out of the program and is very reluctant to be going home. Jayden is a new arrival with a ton of baggage and a horrible attitude. The poor girl doesn't even like her name. As for Mason, Grace's reluctance to share is putting a serious strain on things. Emotions ensue.

Through Grace's eyes we get to know all of the main characters and, more importantly, empathize with them. We also come to understand how troubled she is, herself. Through the performances of these characters, they become well-rounded people who have complex relationships with the realities of their lives. Keith Stanfield, who plays Marcus, shows us a kid who is going through a massive internal struggle. Physically, he doesn't appear able to express his feelings. Whatever is lurking within him only comes out in nervous bursts of energy brought about by the slightest agitation. Mentally, we learn that he communicates much better through his writing. Jayden also has issues communicating. Like Marcus, the things that are bothering her are not things she willingly speaks about. Instead, she's internalized it and now guards it by keeping everyone at arms' length. Kaitlyn Dever is remarkable in the role. Both she and Stanfield give us people that we just hurt for.

If you can't tell, communication is a big theme. Short Term 12 hammers home the point that things would be a lot better if were able to articulate our problems and had people to listen to us. Not only is this the case with Marcus and Jaden, but for the relationship between Grace and BF, as well. At each point along the way, things take a step forward when something is shared. Things take a step backward when information is withheld. We see it time and again throughout the film. It's a tactic that works very well to get us, and keep us, emotionally involved in what's going on. Basically, we're put on a roller-coaster which is what Grace seems to be experiencing every single day. Brie Larson handles the role with aplomb. It takes a good deal of self-assuredness to present us with someone who has none and make it believable. She does this with ease. We fully buy into the notion that she is as troubled as the teens she works with. The only issue with her performance is not actually something she does wrong. It's more that she ridiculously outclasses John Gallagher Jr. as her love interest. He gives the occasional comic relief, but most often is "just a guy." More accurately, he's just a guy who happens to be channeling John Krasinski. I'm rather indifferent toward Krasinski, who generally gives us unmemorable nice guys. This is precisely the way Gallagher plays the role. He's not bad. He just doesn't feel like an essential person.

To drive the point home about communication, we have Sammy (Calloway). He's a character who rarely speaks and most often just takes off running in an effort to get away from the group home. His existence serves as a metaphor. The people who don't, or can't communicate effectively are merely running from their problems. However, Sammy never gets away. The suggestion is that none of us can get away from our problems merely by running from them. We must turn and face them if we are to overcome them. It's a character wonderfully handled by director Destin Daniel Cretton. Sammy is a minor player in the grand scheme of things, plotwise. On the other hand, he's a brilliant summation of the film's entire point.

Eventually, the movie lessens its own impact by insisting on finding the silver lining in every cloud. Things happen very near the end that suggests there is still much work to do. For me, this would be the more honest conclusion. For an hour and a half, we've been presented with complicated issues. Complicated issues rarely have simple solutions. Short Term 12 tries to pretend that they do. It feels like the filmmakers shying away from the truth to give us the pie in the sky. It seems to say, 'yeah, there is work left to do, but don't worry. Everyone lives happily ever after.' It intends this to make itself into a feel-good story. However, it comes off as a movie in denial of the truth it had been giving us until it suddenly decided to flinch.