Say When (Laggies)
Keira Knightly has been an actress who has had a few punches thrown. Unfairly, I might add. If you are someone in your late twenties, or perhaps earlier, then you’ve had her hanging around and seen her quantified into a pout. From the humble beginnings with The Hole and Bend It Like Beckham, through the Pirates of the Caribbean series, into the period dramas and finally in evocative dramas, Knightly has done it all but still, quantified into a pout. True, she has had a few bleeding boring and wooden performances. Yet looking beyond that, she has astute inflicted grace and delicate passion upon each of her roles.
Recently, however, her performances have been spell-binding and enchanting. With such evocative hits such as Begin Again and an Oscar nominated turn in The Imitation Game.
Lesser seen, and perhaps lesser received, was the small indie flick Say When (named Laggies for the Americans).
Say When revolves around Megan, a late twenties girl struggling to find her place in the world. With all her friends moving onto marriages and better jobs, her wasted business degree lingers as she works part time for her father’s company and is feeling stifled by her surroundings. When she discovers her father is having an affair, it jolts her in the worst way and when she meets a group of teens, led by the rambunctious Annika, she hides in the girl’s house to escape from her life. However, when Annika’s father Craig discovers Megan, the older troubled woman opens up to new possibilities and a new life…
Why is it Bad?
I’m not confident hear to say it’s a terrible film. Or even bad. What Say When lacks is a story thick enough to fill its runtime. The script, and some of the characters, are underdeveloped and it shows. Stifled by a lack of direction going into the second half, Say When ultimately lags with the premise and is unable to push Megan along up until the finale where it kicks in again. Certainly, Sam Rockwell’s talents as Craig are hindered and he isn’t able to captivate and charm with so few lines and without a truly fleshed out father role (considering he is a man wronged at every turn). It feels as though Say When is trying to hook into other indie comedies but doesn’t do enough to stand out from the crowd, melting into its peers in a haze of forgetfulness.
Why is it Good?
The performances. Namely, Keira Knightley. See, this is where the British star really crafts her talent - in independents. Similar to tone with Begin Again, Knightley burns with this on point American accent whilst conveying all the emotions that Megan needs to embellish her character. She’s funny, relatable, and lost; all of these elements combine to make Megan feel as realistic as possible in such an earnest way that you forget its Knightley and role with Megan’s journey. Alongside her, Chloe Grace-Mortez plays a realistic teen in a crisis of growing up and through Megan, she learns some vital lesson about childhood and adulthood which is captured in the actresses’ chemistry. It’s shame that Rockwell is squandered but, as ever, he is witty yet visceral here.
Ultimately, Say When is sleepy but works because it has these strong themes of an adult coming of age film. Too often we hitch our prospects on decisions we made when we were pubescent and that alters our future for the worse, finding ourselves in a position of discontent and longing. Megan’s journey away from her high-school friends and boyfriend helps her learn about herself and where she wants to be, especially when it is underlined by the youth of today. Certainly, I know a few adults who’d find