A film with a star-studded cast about a young man with Down syndrome who wants to become a wrestler is clichéd but still a step in the right direction, says Tracey Harding
The annual British Film Institute Festival in October saw the first UK showing of The Peanut Butter Falcon, directed by Tyler Nilson and Mike Schwartz.
The film stars Zack Gottsagen, who met the directors at an acting camp. Gottsagen has Down syndrome, and was so enigmatic and committed that Schwartz and Nilson decided to build their film around him, including incorporating his interests into the script.
A star-studded cast, including Shia LaBeouf and Dakota Johnson, means that the film has received widespread attention. It is currently on release in UK cinemas.
The Peanut Butter Falcon has been compared to a Huckleberry Finn adventure, and its setting in North Carolina against a soundtrack of bluegrass and banjos gives the film an atmosphere reminiscent of Mark Twain’s story.
The film follows Zak, a young man with Down syndrome, who is living in an institution that he is desperately trying to escape from, often with genuinely funny results.
With the assistance of another resident (Bruce Dern), he successfully manages to break out, with the intention of enrolling in the wrestling school of his hero Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church).
On the road, he meets Tyler (LaBeouf) who is escaping from his troubled past, including thugs who are intent on harming him for a previous misdemeanour. Zak is being pursued by a volunteer at his care home, Eleanor (Dakota Fanning) and, when Zak meets Tyler, the two team up as a seemingly unlikely pair.
Eventually, Zak gets to realise his dream and fights a professional wrestler, but Tyler is brutally beaten by his assailants while this happens. In the closing moments of the film, Eleanor, who has fallen in love with Tyler, drives them all – including Zak – to what is suggested is a new life.
At the Q&A session after the film show, the directors were overwhelmed by the positive response from the audience, and introduced LaBeouf and Gottsagen, who received a standing ovation and gave an eloquent account of his film-making experience.
While the film is optimistic and critically acclaimed, it is debatable as to how far the film challenges attitudes, as sometimes it could be construed as slightly clichéd in its representation of adults with learning disabilities being vulnerable and needing looking after. However, to see a Hollywood film with a central character with learning disabilities actually played by an actor with learning disabilities is a step in the right direction.
On the run: Zak, played by Zack Gottsagen, is desperate to escape from an institution
The Peanut Butter Falcon 2019. Directors and screenplay: Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz
