Taglines: How do you grow up when your parents aren’t?
Sixteen-year-old Lucy is a tomboy. She gets on well with her father but is frequently separated from him for months on end when he goes to work in Canada. Her relationship with her mother is easy-going and she takes care of most things around the house.
She tunes into her sexuality and her not so ‘stable’ family dynamics. She develops a relationship with her best friend Kenny and starts to realize that her parents’ marriage is not as solid as she had previously imagined. She notices that her father’s extended stays away from the family are not typical, and that her mother does not pine for her father as much as she herself does.
As Cool As I Am is an American comedy-drama film based on the novel of the same name by Pete Fromm. Claire Danes, Sarah Bolger and James Marsden star as the Diamond family. The film is directed by Max Mayer, who also directed Adam. Filming on the adaptation began in New Mexico in May 2011. The film was released in the United States on June 21, 2013 by IFC Films.
About the Story (2013)
Lucy (Sarah Bolger) is a self-confessed tomboy who gets on well with her father Chuck (James Marsden), but is frequently separated from him for months on end when he works in Canada. Her relationship with her mother Lainee (Claire Danes) is easy-going provided she keeps the house tidy.
Lucy is even allowed to drive her mother’s car, even though she is too young to apply for a license. When her father comes back, which is only 3 times a year, Lucy says that she skips a week of school and Lainee lies to Chuck about not having a job and stays home. Chuck appears to be what Lucy calls an “old-fashioned” man because he wants to provide for the family and therefore looks down upon Lainee having a job.
After a run in with Scott Booker, who is annoying Lucy’s best friend Kenny (Thomas Mann), Lucy kisses Scott in return for him not beating up Kenny. Lucy becomes upset with herself after Scott says she is a bad kisser and wished that he hadn’t been her first kiss. Kenny then says that memories are “malleable,” so Lucy could pretend that her first kiss was Kenny and then she would slowly start to think that was true.
Lucy decides that the only way she could believe this is if Kenny does kiss her, resulting in a friends-with-benefits type relationship. Meanwhile, Lainee begins to have a wandering eye for a speaker (Jeremy Sisto) that comes in to talk to Lainee’s workplace. Lainee eventually sleeps with him and comes home at 5 a.m., with Lucy still up and realizing what her mother has done. Chuck then comes home unexpectedly and Lucy outs Lainee’s job to her father in order to make sure he doesn’t find out about her mother’s infidelity. She also reveals that she kissed two boys while her father was gone.
After her mother and father start arguing, Lucy becomes upset with herself and runs off to Kenny’s house. He is still sleep and she wakes him up by crawling through his window and eventually they have sex in Kenny’s bed. Lucy freaks out and runs out of Kenny’s front door, passing his mother on the way. Lucy runs home and hears her parents having sex upstairs. Because Kenny and Lucy did not use a condom, Lucy goes to ‘Planned Parenthood’ where they give her a morning after pill, a box of condoms, and birth control pills. She stuffs this box into her drawers when her father calls her.
She goes downstairs to find Kenny waiting for her. Kenny discretely tells her about the morning-after pill and to his relief, she tells him that she has already taken it. Kenny’s mother then calls on the phone and Chuck invites Kenny and his mother to Easter brunch that Sunday. While at lunch, Kenny’s mother outs Lucy and Kenny’s love affair. Lainee and Chuck become offended, not believing Kenny’s mother and saying that she is lying. While Kenny and Lucy are feeding leftovers from their meal to neighborhood dogs, Lucy announces that she doesn’t want to have sex again and Kenny agrees.
Review for As Cool As I Am (2013)
“If memory is malleable then the future is too.” Lucy is a sixteen year old girl who is too smart for her own good. She spends her free time learning how to cook and hanging out with her friend Kenny. Her mother (Claire Danes) and father (James Marsden) had her when they were young and not ready for that responsibility. Now with her dad gone all but 4 times a year and her mom acting like a kid herself Lucy is left to discover life for herself.
This is a movie that again proves my point that a movie can be entertaining and worth watching involving great acting rather then special effects. This is a movie along the line of What Maisie Knew only involving an older child rather then a 6 year old. Parents that should not have been allowed to have children and a child who is more mature then the parents. You really root for Lucy the entire time and by the time the end come you feel extremely sorry for her as well as relief. That is a hard combination to achieve but that’s what great writing and acting does.
As Cool As I Am (2013)
Directed by: Max Mayer
Starring: Claire Danes, Sarah Bolger, James Marsden, Jon Tenney, Thomas Mann, Lorena Fernández, Terry Walters, Rachel Hroncich
Screenplay by: Pete Fromm, Virginia Korus Spragg
Production Design by: Waldemar Kalinowski
Cinematography by: Tim Suhrstedt
Film Editing by: Tracey Wadmore-Smith
Costume Design by: Alysia Raycraft
Set Decoration by: Wilhelm Pfau
Music by: Christopher Lennertz
MPAA Rating: R for sexual content including an assault, and some teen drinking.
Studio: IFC Films
Release Date: January 21, 2013
Visits: 129
