Blog: ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’

Hey y’all, it’s been a minute. The holidays, ya know? I’ve been watching a lot of new things. In fact, I’ve been watching so much TV that I haven’t even bothered to write about any of it. I’m changing that real quick, right now. Have you seen The Peanut Butter Falcon?

I had been wanting to watch this movie for months. Honestly, I didn’t know that Shia LaBeouf was still around until I came across this movie trailer. I loved him back in the day and gosh darn it I still love him after watching The Peanut Butter Falcon. This movie’s unique. It has a little flare of Of Mice and Men but other than that, I can’t remember when I’ve seen or heard of a story like this.

The story follows Zak (Zack Gottsagen) on his journey to find the prestigious wrestling school run by the infamous Salt Water Redneck. His dream is to become a professional wrestler like this epic Salt Water Redneck fellow. The thing is, Zak has Down syndrome AND he’s stuck in an old folk’s home under strict surveillance. You see, he’s tried to escape one too many times. With the help of his good buddy and roommate Carl (Bruce Dern), Zak finally escapes out of the old folks home and onto a stranger’s boat on the river. Enter Tyler (Shia LaBeouf).

Now, Tyler is on the run for theft and destruction, to put it simply. He discovers Zak on his boat and after some turn of events, Tyler allows him to join him on his escape to Florida and promises to drop him off at the wrestling school along the way. It’s a fascinating and quite frankly, comical relationship the two of them establish. It’s endearing watching it grow.

You learn that Zak has been told he can’t do many things because he is not like most people. Tyler steps in over and over again giving him courage and affirmation that he can do anything he sets his mind to and that he is worth something. It isn’t something you really expect from Tyler when you first meet him, given the fact that he’s a bit rough around the edges and comes across as self-serving.

I watched this movie once, and it melted my heart. I watched it a second time, and it melted my damn heart again. Not only is the acting good from all parties, but we are told this story from a point of view that we don’t get to see a whole lot of. We get a little insight into something a lot of us can’t really fathom. It’s special. And to melt your hearts even more, this movie was specifically written for Zack Gottsagen after the directors Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz met him at a special needs camp. They were inspired by Zack’s desire to be an actor so they based a whole script around his hopes and dreams. Okay. What wonderful, beautiful people.

I don’t think I’ve seen Shia LaBeouf on my TV screen since Transformers y’all. I’m not exaggerating. No, that’s a lie. I saw him briefly in Lawless but I walked out of the theater during that movie. Only time I’ve ever done that! I’ve been looking at his IMDb credits and although he has been dabbling in some projects here and there, it’s like he appeared out of thin air when I saw The Peanut Butter Falcon. Yes, he’s had a little too much to drink here and there and oh, fun fact! He was arrested during filming for this movie for public drunkenness. BUT, homeboy has still got it.

This one is worth a watch. The Peanut Butter Falcon is available to rent on Amazon Prime.

Image from IMDb.