There’s a certain likability to Keira Knightley that I’ve encountered numerous times in her period films, but not so much when the plot is happening in the present because she kept doing period films! Atonement, Pride & Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean to name a few up until the past few years when she was finally allowed into the 21st century with Seeking a Friend at the End of the World, Begin Again and now, Laggies.
Upon first watching it, I thought, alright, it’s a decent indie movie about a woman who has lost her way and is rebelling against her family, friends and boyfriend. Then the movie kept replaying in my head for weeks until I realized, I am Megan (Keira Knightley)! Understandably I’m not exactly like her but there are characteristics about her that I can relate to. Besides, as I’m a fine example of a person with “I don’t know what to do with my life” sign attached to her head, I can totally understand Megan’s struggles.
As Megan’s boyfriend of many years proposes to her during her best friends wedding, she is baffled and shocked to say at least. This sets the plot in motion, as she deliberately makes up an excuse to be away from her now fiancee, family and friends to stay at a teenager’s house. While it sounds totally weird and creepy, I actually think it’s very cute because Megan, in more ways than one, is still a teenager at heart.
Before all of that happens, it is clear that Megan’s boyfriend Anthony (Mark Webber) seems to know better what’s good for Megan than Megan herself. He is pushing her towards things but it’s not in a manner of violence or evil, it’s of pure love and Megan sort of lets herself to be lead on. This is what strikes me as interesting and hits me right in the gut because for as long as I can remember, I’ve been letting people who love me, do the same for me. But the moment Anthony lands on that one knee, a switch goes off in Megan’s head and she takes charge of her own life… sort of.
She meets these teenagers and feels a connection. They, just like her, are in a point of their lives where they have to make big decisions – family, love etc. That’s when Megan meets Annika (btw, I love that name because it’s such a classic Estonian name) portrayed by Chloe Grace Moretz. What was surprising about Laggies was the chemistry between the two most unlikely people – Knightley and Moretz. Now, you should all know by now, I’m not a fan of Moretz and will most likely never be but if she keeps acting next to Knightley, there might be some hope for her after all. Granted, Annika was a very well written teenager which helped Moretz a lot – she was grounded, she was cool and she didn’t whine nor annoy me, which is refreshing.
Then there’s Sam Rockwell as Craig, the weirdest lawyer/father I’ve ever seen on screen and I loved it. Though he seemed high for the most part and drunk for the rest of the movie, Rockwell is way too charismatic to hate on. Rockwell and Knightley were bang on perfect together on screen and they just warmed my your heart really. Though I wasn’t very keen on the ending being a bit too messy (I seem to be disliking endings in general lately, even in books), I liked the fact that Anthony maintained his status as a good guy. True, it’s hard to imagine Mark Webber as anything else but a good guy, but the way their relationship was handled made sense and felt really grown up.
That’s what makes Laggies sort of special – it’s a grown up world handling problems that might be considered immature. Some people might have it all figured out in their early twenties, others are still finding their path in their late twenties and it’s alright either way. Though Laggies never really pushes the career aspect, it does hint at it at the guidance concealer’s office and it makes perfect sense. In a way, I’m glad that Laggies didn’t focus on too many things at once and kept it more about relationships between the characters and not Megan’s career prospects. Though, if I must complain about one thing and one thing only – I wish they showed a bit more Rockwell.
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This one is starting to interest me. I had kinda brushed it aside but I’m reading more people say it is worth seeing.
I’m kind of right there with Keith. Like, this looked really lame (posters are awful and that trailer looked dumb) but the reviews for this make it sound like a real gem of a film…so I’m getting more and more excited to finally see this.
It’s good.. I liked it a lot! It’s definitely less cheesy than the trailer makes it out to look.
Great review! This comes out on DVD in a few weeks here, I’m looking forward to it!
You should, it’s a really nice little flick.
“Though he seemed high for the most part and drunk”, yeah that’s a lawyer all right!
I LOVED this movie. It’s already one of my favorites. It was so wise, clever and charming. So glad you liked it too!
Ha! Well glad he got the lawyer thing down then.. and well.. the scene where he has his first coversation with Maggie is so cleverly done and funny.
I agree ,all movies could use a bit more Rockwell. I only really liked Grace in Kick Ass , but she has yet to do a role that is as iconic and fun as Hit Girl. It’s cool seeing Knightly do roles that are not just costume dramas. I will check this out when I can
I didn’t even like her there because I disliked the character and the movie like.. a lot! I’m never really warmed up to her ever since but she wasn’t too bad in Laggies.
Lovely review. I wish they had showed more of Rockwell too.
I did really like this despite having a few issues with the script.
Knightley really had a great 2014 didn’t she? Very happy for her success.
I liked this one too, it was such a sweet and real little movie. Keira’s character is very relatable, for all of us who don’t dream of being doctors from age 5. She and Rockwell were great together.
I fell in love with Keira Knightley with her performance in Last Night. I think she’s great in contemporary, always has such a lovely energy.