Mid90s
Actor Jonah Hill (The Wolf Of Wall Street) makes his directorial debut with this coming-of-age story about a teenage boy who finds his scene when he meets an eclectic group of neighbourhood skateboarders.
Stevie is a sweet 13-year-old about to explode. His mom is loving and attentive, but a little too forthcoming about her romantic life. His big brother is a taciturn and violent bully. So Stevie searches his working-class Los Angeles suburb for somewhere to belong. He finds it at the Motor Avenue skate shop.
Stevie’s new friends are older and more experienced in everything that matters, like skateboarding, hip-hop, girls, and getting into trouble. Stevie seems so green but, disarmed by his earnestness and bravado – he’ll attempt even the most insane stunts in an effort to be accepted – the Motor Avenue crew welcomes him into their fold. Their friendship gives Stevie an unprecedented sense of worth. It also places him in ever-scarier situations.
Set to a connoisseur’s soundtrack of ‘90s rock and rap, Mid90s captures the hijinks and hair-raising risk-taking of pre-digital-age teen life. Stevie’s pals can be obnoxious one moment and exceptionally kind (even wise) the next. Employing brilliantly timed jump-cuts and a surprisingly spare aesthetic, Hill proves to be a uniquely sophisticated chronicler of youthful folly while delivering some of the funniest scenes you’ll find on screen this year. (source: www.tiff.net)
Authenticity is the hinge around which this debut of Jonah Hill revolves. Striking, because the actor-director is a Hollywood icon nowadays, praised for his infectious performances in both comedy classics (SUPERBAD) and epic dramas (THE WOLF OF WALL STREET). Yet, for this movie he preferred naturalness to hype guarantees. "I knew I was going to cast skateboarderds and teach them how to act, as opposed to actors and teach them how to skateboard," Hill mentioned to an interviewer. "Each and every one of these kids possessed a vulnerability, an inability to be false." This quote is just as applicable to cult film KIDS (1995), a great inspiration for Jonah Hill. The actors in this pioneering portrait of New York youths were also mostly street children, cast on the basis of their credibility and life experience. History repeats, in short, and the nineties is quite the decade to redo, right?
Get to know the young skaters from MID90S in this interview!