Big Time Adolescence

An unexpectedly grounded coming of age comedy that delves into the power that the wrong influences can have on a young person.

So this one kind of flew under the radar for me. Big Time Adolescence is the first feature film by director Jason Orley and stars Pete Davidson, Griffin Gluck and even Colson Baker (MGK). It touches on the story of a sixteen-year-old boy from the suburbs named Mo (Griffin Gluck) who is taken under the wing of an older, far more rebellious young man named Zeke, played by none other than Pete Davidson himself.

Growing up can be difficult. The teen years are a tricky age because more is expected of you even though you are currently going through an internal process of growth that only you and others like you understand. You’re beginning to have new experiences, meeting new people while also disconnecting from older relationships, and figuring more about who you are and who you are meant to be. Although Pete Davidson is a favorite comedian of mine and I tend to love his comedy, I didn’t have very high expectations for this movie. However, it actually surprised me with the adult themes that it touches on. Having the wrong influences can be destructive to a young person, no matter how close their bond can be. 

Pete’s comedy revolves around his own life experiences and the trauma that he’s had to endure, mainly with the death of his father who was a firefighter on 9/11. While some may see the jokes about his father’s death as inappropriate, I see it as this coping mechanism for what he had to endure at such an early age. People deal with their trauma in different ways, and Pete obviously uses humor to cope with his pain.

What I loved about this movie was the friendship between Mo and Zeke. Although they have a big age gap, they still have this deep connection and brotherly bond. Zeke sees Mo as this young kid who is still trying to find himself, so he decides to act as this older sibling and show him the ropes of young adulthood. For young people, sometimes the biggest thing they need is a role model and someone to teach them about what it means to grow up and being your own person, even though sometimes they’re not always the best teacher. This was the strongest aspect of the film and these two performances stood out the most. Pete Davidson is basically playing himself, but he has this natural charm that steals every scene he’s in, so he doesn’t really need to test his acting range, especially in a comedy. Characters in coming of age movies sometimes tend to not always reflect actual teens in real life, but this movie finds that sweet spot and the characters and their conversations are very natural and nothing feels forced. They’re young adults, so the humor is targeted more for younger viewers and it’s actually pretty hilarious in certain scenes.

The film could have benefited from having an additional half hour to further flesh out the characters because by the end you’re left feeling slightly unsatisfied and want a better explanation for the outcome. The director clearly wanted it to be a sort of open ending to leave you questioning the movie, and it works for the most part but I felt it could’ve been executed better, even though it does evoke this sadness for viewers. This was one of Pete’s strongest movies and it left me feeling excited for his upcoming The King of Staten Island coming out in June.

Final Score: 7.5/10