The Fall of 2021 was a rough period for A24. While they were producing highly acclaimed work, they had yet to land on a title that was a runaway success. Films like The Green Knight (2021) and The Souvenir Part II (2021) did a lot to solidify the quality of the brand, but when would they land on an awards contender? It makes sense to place anticipation on Mike Mills’ second film for the studio, especially after the Oscar-nominated 20th Century Women (2016), but the magic would be a lot more reserved this time around. Even if C’mon C’mon (2021) would become one of their buzzier titles, it was also evidence that they were struggling to light a spark at the box office in spite of its reliable formula.
The story begins with Mills being a father. Over the course of his career, the director has made films that were pseudo-autobiographical. His previous two films featured the coming out story of his father with Beginners (2010) and another about his mother raising him with 20th Century Women. One of the most prominent details regarding these two films is that they launched him into the awards race. Each received Oscar nominations, including a screenplay nomination for the latter. Their emphasis on unconventional family dynamics made it intriguing to see where he would go now that he had thoroughly explored the lives of his parents.
Much like the previous two, this film isn’t directly about his life. Instead this one focuses around another unconventional dynamic: an uncle and his nephew. There were certain details that were pulled from his life. This includes an early career working in producing art for bands in the late 80s, including The Beastie Boys. The choice to have protagonist Johnny be a radio journalist stems this and his time working as a documentarian. From there, he was inspired by conversations he had with his son that allowed him to explore the relationship of a parent figure who was, in a sense, inexperienced and learning how to take care of a child through daily discoveries.
Unlike his previous work, he chose to shoot the film in black and white because he believed that the cinematography encouraged a more intimate engagement. There wasn’t anything “loud” about the scenery and instead encouraged everybody to learn forward and listen to the quiet moments. Given that the child character Jesse was designed to be spontaneous and more engaged with the world around him, it allowed Johnny to appear somewhere reserved, as if time had taken its toll on him. While there wasn’t a thorough backstory created, there was enough of a vague overview to give Johnny a sense of direction in his life. Similarly, co-star Molly Webster (as Roxanne) worked for WNYC’s series Radiolab, which helped to establish the framework of exploring Johnny’s growth through radio interviews. Following initial delays caused by Covid-19 protocols, he fine tuned everything and prepared to shoot it.
Once the script was written, Mills shared it with Gaby Hoffman. In interviews, she would claim that it was the best script that she had ever read. She claimed to have been thinking a lot about the subjects of the piece, believing that Mills tapped into the earnestness of being a parent and the various struggles that one faces. Even then, the choice to project it from an uncle-nephew dynamic brought something a little more raw. The effort for Johnny to seek Jesse’s validation wouldn’t be as much of a given, creating a tension that would carry throughout C’mon C’mon. Given that it’s a story that also features real interviews with real children throughout (answers unprompted), it creates this insight into a demographic that was rarely depicted in arthouse cinema.
While Hoffman was enthusiastic, Joaquin Phoenix wasn’t. Part of the reason stemmed from the roles he was usually encouraged to play. At the time of production, Phoenix’s previous film was the billion dollar-grossing Joker (2019), which also landed him a Best Actor statue at The Oscars. C’mon C’mon would be completely against type, requiring him to play a character with warmth and compassion for his child co-star. Phoenix wasn’t reluctant to try, but it would take Mills many meetings over months to encourage him to see the larger potential. Meanwhile, Jesse was played by Woody Norman, who the director claimed he was enamored by since seeing his tape submission. He also claimed that Norman was a naturally curious actor who really took to the role and had fun with it.
Even with a script, Mills allowed the characters to be discovered as they shot everything. Norman and Phoenix brought a lot to the characters that allowed for each to better understand their relationship and allow Phoenix to become more comfortable as an adult figure. Due to C’mon C’mon taking place in several cities, Mills decided to shoot everything as close to chronological as possible. This also allowed the dynamic to feel like it matured, eventually leading to the meaning behind the film’s title. It refers to a need to keep moving forward no matter what troubles arise. Even as Phoenix fights his own melancholy, he does his best to be there for Norman, and it leads to some endearing character development.
Mills would also pay tribute to his documentary roots by hiring people he had worked with in that field. In 2019, he worked with The National on the short I Am Easy to Find, which lead to a desire to collaborate on future work. Aaron and Bryce Dressner would take on score composition duties in between work on Cyrano (2022). The brothers would also collaborate almost entirely through Zoom due to different gigs in France and New York during the pandemic. Because of the more experimental framework, they were encouraged to tweak the score and keep it from sounding conventional. They recalled Mills doing what he could to make the music sound a little more obtuse and challenging even within its deceptive simplicity.
Following the wrap-up of production, the film would premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in September 2021. Even with great reviews, C’mon C’mon would struggle to capture the market in the same way that other A24 films had. Even with a Post-Oscar performance by an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, the film couldn’t survive on prestige. The story was simple and warmhearted, at times reminiscent of the Sofia Coppola film On the Rocks (2020) in its intimate scope. Unlike Coppola, Mills would have a chance at a theatrical release. The issue with this is that it would earn $4.5 million on an $8.3 million budget. While not the worst box office in theory, it would help to label the film a box office bomb, leading to an underwhelming reputation.
To C’mon C’mon’s credit, it was one of the few A24 films to have a significant appearance during awards season. While it would fail to receive an Oscar nomination, it would show up for various groups including Gotham Awards and The Independent Film Spirit Awards. It would also be included on National Board of Review’s Top 10 Independent Films of 2021.
With all that said, it did achieve the widespread acclaim that Mills was hoping for. According to critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the film would earn 94% approval rating. This would make it one of the studio’s most acclaimed movies of the year. Leading the buzz was Guy Lodge of Film of the Week who suggested, “Quietly, shamblingly human after the spectacular derangement of Joker, [Phoenix] plays Johnny with an inconsistent complicated history of care and affection woven into his slouchy body language and muted line readings.” Jane Freebury shared in the positivity when noting, “A journey across America in lustrous B&W conducting interviews with youth about the future, builds bonds between a young boy and his sad and solitary uncle, Joaquin Phoenix an unlikely father figure but it works.” The few who disagreed was Jackie K. Cooper who retorted, “Its a story about relationships that doesn't really go anywhere, but the actors do their very best.” Overall, it would end up on several Best of the Year lists, leading to its status as an underdog favorite from A24.
While C’mon C’mon failed to make much of an impression at the box office, it has since become another example of what the studio does best. The intimate scope featured an actor going against type to present a story with a lot of heart. It’s clear that Mills enjoys working with A24 given that this was his second collaboration with them. At the time of publication, there isn’t news on what his next project will be. However, this wouldn’t be the last time that Phoenix would appear with the studio. He would return for Ari Aster’s third film Beau Is Afraid (2023). While these two films are very different, they do share the unfortunate pattern of underperforming at the box office in spite of previous success from the filmmaker.
It may have not been the launchpad for awards season that A24 wanted, but C’mon C’mon still would become one of their best for 2021. It remains a tribute to auteur filmmaking and intimate storytelling that comments on esoteric subject matters. Continuing their trend of filmmakers exploring complicated relationships would be their follow-up. While it would be just as small, it wouldn’t share in similar warmth that C’mon C’mon did, resulting in an even more challenging work that left audiences confused.
Coming Up Next: The Humans (2021)
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