“SNL” bad boy Pete Davidson’s distinct brand of humor is on full display in Big Time Adolescence, a hilarious and never pretentious showcase written and directed by debut feature filmmaker Jason Orley.
Davidson plays Zeke, a classic burnout who unwittingly finds a protégé in Mo (Griffin Gluck, Just Go With It), the kid brother of his girlfriend Kate (Emily Arlook, ABC‘s “Grown-ish”). Mo remains loyal to him even after Zeke and Kate break up because he views his older friend as cooler than anyone his age.
The array of bad habits formed before Mo gets his driver’s license are funny enough to fill a boilerplate comedy, but Davidson’s ability to riff and milk laughs out of any scene with his deadpan demeanor and hilariously crass, carefree musings nearly elevate Big Time Adolescence to greatness.
He’s so at home within Orley’s coming-of-age milieu that the lines between scripted material and improv are impressively blurred, yet he finds solid support from Gluck, who ably carries the film while Mo finds his niche within the local high school community, selling liquor and drugs at parties, supplied by none other than his legal-aged best friend.
While Mo’s interactions with classmate crush Sophie (Oona Laurence, The Beguiled) largely fall flat, the film earns more mature laughs — and groans — via his and Zeke’s fraught dynamics with Mo’s loving, frustrated and largely ineffectual parents, Reuben (a shaved-headed Jon Cryer, coming amusingly full circle from his Duckie days) and Sherri (Julia Murney, The Report).
The infusion of adult stakes gradually force the developmentally stunted young men to adjust their ways, but never at the cost of high-quality humor. Their rapport is a treat to witness and suggests that both actors — Davidson especially — have the potential for even bigger comedic successes ahead.
Now available on Hulu
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