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Drifters on the run carve themselves a future in The Peanut Butter Falcon

The Peanut Butter Falcon . Written and directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz. Starring Shia LaBeouf, Zack Gottsagen and Dakota Johnson.
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The Peanut Butter Falcon. Written and directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz. Starring Shia LaBeouf, Zack Gottsagen and Dakota Johnson. Rating: 8 (out of 10)

North Carolina’s intracoastal waterway is the setting for this unlikely buddy movie about two men on the run from past mistakes and squandered time.

 Zak (newcomer Zack Gottsagen), a 22-year-old with Down syndrome, has languished for more than two years in a nursing home: “I am young. ... I don’t know why I am here.” With the help of his elderly roommate (Bruce Dern, executing his trademark cantankerousness), Zak escapes, wearing nothing but a saggy pair of briefs.

 Zak has been watching the same grainy wrestling VHS tape over and over and dreams of going to the wrestling school promoted in the video. He’s a day on the lam before he stows away in what turns out to be a getaway boat piloted by Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), a man who has been poaching crab traps and stirring up all kinds of trouble, mostly of the self-destructive kind.

 “Rule one: don’t slow me down,” Tyler directs Zak. He’s dodging the men looking for vengeance (including John Hawkes and rapper Yelawolf) all the way to Florida but offers to drop Zak at a wrestling school on his way south.

 Also in pursuit is Eleanor (Dakota Johnson), a caregiver at the nursing home who is under orders from her boss to bring Zak back before the authorities discover that he’s missing. One of the best scenes of the film is the chance encounter between Eleanor and Tyler in a gas station convenience store, where Tyler’s derogatory brand of flirtation earns him a well-deserved flipped middle finger. He doesn’t tell her that he’s traveling with Zak: by now he’s fully invested in their “two bandits on the run” adventure.

 At first Zak is a nuisance to Tyler, then a duty, and then a friend. Tyler teaches Zak to swim and to shoot, filling a hole where a brotherly connection was lost. (We feel the absence of Tyler’s brother, played by Jon Bernthal, seen in wordless yet effective flashbacks.) The languid Outer Banks setting is vital in giving our voyagers the time and wide-open space needed to grow and bond with one another.

 It’s Zak’s quest but it’s Tyler’s story, really. He’s the one who is grieving, who slowly opens up and comes alive in his relationship with Zak and, later, with Eleanor, when she resignedly joins the modern-day Huck Finn duo on their makeshift raft. In telling Zak that he was born to be the hero rather than the bad guy, that he has a hero’s heart, he’s also forgiving himself for past transgressions.

 There are varied and scenic stops on their journey: blind delta preacher Jasper (Wayne DeHart) provides a baptism and opportunity for self-reflection, while the eventual meeting with Zak’s hero, The Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church), isn’t quite what they imagined when they set out on their odyssey. (Legendary wrestlers Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Mick Foley lend a hand.)

 Objectively predictable and far-fetched it may be but there isn’t a moment of the film that feels cloying or forced, thanks to the disarmingly real performances by both men. (Johnson is sweet and steadfast but could have used an extra scene to establish her character.) LaBeouf’s straight-talking, straight-shooting performance in particular guarantees the success of the bromance and of the film. The actor injects comedy into an “am I gonna die” conversation and helps turn a “buds-dudes-friends” handshake into a priceless moment.

 The Peanut Butter Falcon is a tender and simple drama about finding your strength, with a deceptively nuanced performance by LaBeouf, who continues to be one of the most compelling actors working today.

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