Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made Review – A Witty & Heartfelt Disney+ Film

Timmy Failure explores how kids use their imaginations as a buffer against the hardships of growing up in ways that are funny, smart, and heartfelt.

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For a movie about a quirky eleven-year old gumshoe prone to flights of fancy whose last name is “Failure” (it wasn’t always spelled that way), Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made is really quite subtle. Based on the books by Stephan Pastis, the Disney+ Original marks director Tom McCarthy’s awaited followup to his Best Picture Oscar-winner Spotlight. The films are so different, you might not immediately make the connection between them; but on a closer look, their shared understated approaches and, in some ways, complimentary themes begin to stand out. Timmy Failure explores how kids use their imaginations as a buffer against the hardships of growing up in ways that are funny, smart, and heartfelt.

Winslow Fegley (brother of Pete’s Dragon actor Oakes) stars as Timmy Failure, a fifth grader far more invested in running his detective agency with his partner, a 1,500 pound polar bear named Total, than his schoolwork. There’s a Wes Andersonian quality to Timmy, who narrates his inner monologue and addresses others in a deadpan manner, his trusty red scarf always in hand. Yet, unlike one of Anderson’s protagonists, Timmy exist firmly in the real-world and, to those around him, he’s either a nuisance, fascinating, or a bit of both. McCarthy, who also wrote the film with Pastis, applies a deft hand in showing how these quirks are part of Timmy’s defense mechanisms, starting with Total crashing into his kitchen as Timmy’s dad storms out on him and his mom.

The arrival of a newfound friend (just when he needs one the most) isn’t the only way Timmy deals with the challenges of being a tween. He views a classmate (Ai-chan Carrier’s Corrina Corrina) whom he’s started developing romantic feelings for as a possible conspirator with his arch-enemies, The Russians, and mistrusts the local law enforcement, just as his mother Patty (Ophelia Lovibond) begins dating a parking enforcement officer (Kyle Bornheimer’s Crispin). Because it filters its story through Timmy’s perspective, Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made is able to work on two levels: as a fun adventure full of good morals for younger viewers and a clever way of reminding adults how they processed the world before they fully understood it. In doing so, the film is able to exist comfortably in the space between a deeper, yet less accessible dive into the psychology of children – a la Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are – and a PG-rated romp that offers little for anyone who isn’t still a kid.

Like any good shaggy dog detective tale, Timmy Failure’s setting is as much a character as the people who live there. The film takes place in a less densely populated region of Portland, Oregon, a place where modern suburban conformity and hipster culture have learned to live in harmony together. Mistakes Were Made is more inclusive than similar kids fare from the ’90s and ’00s, yet also takes the time to give its supporting players some personality. Fegley works great playing off his young costars, especially Big Little Lies veteran Chloe Coleman as Timmy’s idealistic peer Molly Moskins and Kei as Rollo Tookus, his neurotic and sometimes reluctant partner. Among the adults, Lovibond brings a warmth to her role as a young parent striving to care for her kid while working two jobs, as does Bornheimer as the good-natured underachiever Crispin. Wallace Shawn is also a standout as Timmy’s irascible teacher, Mr. Crocus, along with Craig Robinson in an unexpectedly straight-faced turn as Timmy’s school therapist.

If there’s one area where Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made falls a bit short, it’s the visuals. The film had a mid-range budget to work from ($42 million), which it stretches paper-thin to bring the CGI Total to mostly-convincing life, while at the same time giving Timmy’s daydreams (in which he envisions everything from a close encounter with beavers to an evil middle-school right out of a Roald Dahl or Lemony Snicket novel) enough splendor to set them apart from the unflashy realism of his day to day life. Spotlight’s DP Masanobu Takayanagi shoots much of the movie in careful compositions, bird’s eye views, and digital tacking shots to give it some extra oomph, but it’s not quite enough to achieve the quality of a proper theatrical release. Of course, as a direct to streaming movie, Timmy Failure clears the bar without breaking a sweat.

Much like Spotlight succeeded in dramatizing a real-life story about journalism without sensationalizing it, Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made uses humor and a kid’s way of looking at things to ground a tale about what growing up really means (learning to own your mistakes, realizing “normal” is a pretty useless term). It walks the fine line between being too whimsical and too dramatic, yet maintains that delicate balancing act over the course of its entire runtime. The movie made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month, so it has a little extra buzz heading in to its debut on Disney+. With any luck, this won’t be the last we see of Timmy, Total, and the adventures of Total Failure Inc.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/timmy-failure-mistakes-were-made-movie-reviews/