Florida's Film, Television and the Arts Magazine
Peas and Carrots - Movie Review by Lisa Blanck
A little bit of sci-fi, some fish out of water and a dash of The Partridge Family. That's what you get with Peas and Carrots, the new film from Evan Openheimer. Imagine that your mom and dad were popular teen-age rockers in the 90's, say, Debbie Harry and Marky Ramone, living in what appears to be NYC. Your parents had one hit with their band, City Kids, but never really made it big, coasting on their one-hit-wonder status. They got married and produced three kids, all of whom are named for members of rock bands: teenager Joey Weathersby (Kirrilee Berger), younger sister Mickey (Talia Oppenheimer) and little brother Topper (Callulm Vinson). If you need a nudge to know the influences, there's a photo of The Clash on Joey's bedroom dresser.
Their parents are cool - when they're told a bedime story by dad, Gordon (Jordan Bridges), the words are from rock classics like "White Room" and "Roxanne". Years after they stopped recording, Dad is now a teacher and mom Laurie (Amy Carlson) is trying to keep their music relevant, but isn't having much luck with the label. Laurie is thinking of throwing in the towel and giving up her dreams. Joey, who is also musically inclined, is trying to figure out what direction her life should take.
In Joey's bedroom, next to the photo of The Clash is a star projecting machine. Joey's had it for a while, and turns it on to help her fall asleep. One night, dad accidentally knocks the machine to the floor. Later, when Joey puts it back on the desk and turns it on, she sees some strange light waves pulsing in the corridor and walks through them... directly into an alternate universe. She's the only one of her family who can see the light waves, the only one who is affected and transported.
In this alternate universe, Joey meets a new cast of people, most of whom are unaware that they're living on a movie stage. Initially they can only say the words "peas and carrots" when speaking to Joey and to each other. Why those two words? Because when you're the background actors in a film, and are supposed to be having a conversation, if you mouth the words 'peas and carrots' it looks like you're really speaking to the person across from you. It's an old movie trick.
For the rest of the film, Joey moves back and forth between the two worlds. She loses more time with every relocation. She's also not sure if it's all in her head and enlists her friends and a teacher in her school to try to make sense of what's going on. Does she want to stay in movie world, where she seems to be successful, or go back to her HS life with her real family and friends? When Joey is in the 'movie universe', that's when the film feels very weak. She isn't given time to develop her character here. It all feels very uncomfortable. She doesn't appear to want to escape her real life; like any teenager, she just isn't sure what her future holds.
I enjoyed Amy Carlson in Peas And Carrots, and wish the film had more of her character. Or at least more of the family interacting, musically. With original songs written by Marky Ramone (The Ramones), Ryan Miller (Guster) and Lee Ranaldo) (Sonic Youth), they had the opportunity to have a rocking soundtrack, but missed the boat. Peas and Carrots will be released digitally on November 4th.
