X
- 2015
- R
- The Film Arcade
- 1 h 25 m
- 2015
- R
- The Film Arcade
- 1 h 25 m
Summary James White (Christopher Abbott) is a troubled twenty-something trying to stay afloat in a frenzied New York City. He retreats further into a self-destructive, hedonistic lifestyle, but as his mother (Cynthia Nixon) battles a serious illness James is forced to take control of his life. As the pressure on him mounts, James must find new r...
- 2015
- R
- The Film Arcade
- 1 h 25 m
- 2015
- R
- The Film Arcade
- 1 h 25 m
James White
7.0
Where to Watch
Summary James White (Christopher Abbott) is a troubled twenty-something trying to stay afloat in a frenzied New York City. He retreats further into a self-destructive, hedonistic lifestyle, but as his mother (Cynthia Nixon) battles a serious illness James is forced to take control of his life. As the pressure on him mounts, James must find new r...
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 25 Critic Reviews
83
84% Positive
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
12% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 25 Critic Reviews
83
84% Positive
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
12% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Abbott (“A Most Violent Year,” HBO’s “Girls”) is a revelation, creating a multidimensional character whose battling, sometimes uncontrollable emotions are clear in his warm and expressive eyes.
So James White’s title character is an entitled, self-centered a--hole. But the movie about him is still a marvel: an honest, moving, and occasionally even funny portrait of what happens when a cripplingly immature young man gets hit with one reality check after another.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 User Ratings
7.0
59% Positive
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
34% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
7% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 User Ratings
7.0
59% Positive
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
34% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
7% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
James White is exciting to watch, but that's just because you're watching a jerk get through his normal everyday life while you (as in general) watch the movie and tell his jerky side from the beginning to end.
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There is no solace to be had in this raw, intimate drama, a feature-film debut for writer-director Josh Mond. No triumph of the human spirit. There is instead something rarer and more valuable: urgently personal filmmaking, and Abbott’s stunning performance.
Cynthia Nixon commits wholly to her role’s maternal patience and scattered mental decay, but it’s Abbott who really dominates James White.
An accomplished and compelling film by writer/director Josh Mond, James White is also pretty much a bummer.
When James White really digs in, it's an affecting portrait of grief and of feeling lost in life.
An indie exercise in macho posturing disguised as a tale of grief, reminds us that losing one’s parents is psychically debilitating. But that’s about as useful as knowing that rain is wet.
Sad, it is. Great performances, it has. Not sure what else. The cinema verité style and the open intimacy of the main character, pushes us towards becoming one with James, but ultimately this does not happen (to me at least), since, even for a 20 something, his stupid behaviour and lack of awareness make him seem unreal.
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So what's wrong with the recent generation of kids we read about in the papers? Can't get jobs, still live at home with the parents, one step away from being homeless and don't know why? This is their movie, James White is one of them. The movie has plenty of flashbacks, but none of them deal with James, how he came to be the mess he is. Did his parents make too many excuses for him growing up so he never learned to be an independent adult? Did he ever face tough choices? Why does he need to "get out" anytime life gets tough?
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What starts out as a promising study of a complex character unfortunately slowly morphs into a moving, though nonetheless surprisingly conventional, occasionally ambiguous, tearjerker. Despite excellent performances by Christopher Abbott and, especially, Cynthia Nixon, the film has little to offer in the way of originality or insight. Regrettably, this is likely to leave a lot of viewers either disappointed or wondering exactly what the director was trying to say.
Report
It's a drama about a young New Yorker, infantile and self-centered, who is forced to grow up and take care for his dying mother.
Both main actors deliver serious performances, but handheld camera and abrupt narrative made me annoyed. Too many close-ups of this half macho, half good-for-nothing, wanna-be-a-writer main character.
As sad and painful as losing a parent to cancer is, he behaves as if no one ever suffered as much as he does.
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Production Company
BorderLine Films,
Relic Pictures
Release Date Nov 13, 2015
Duration 1 h 25 m
Rating R
Genres
Awards
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
• 4 Nominations
Locarno International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
Gotham Awards
• 3 Nominations
