That is the same year I was born, when Frybread Face and Me takes place, however that is not the only reason why this positive story of a young boy who spends his summer optimally resonates with me. No, he’s not snorkeling in the Bahamas or learning archery with friends at camp; but instead, Benny (Keir Tallman) a native Californian has been dumped at his grandmother’s ranch in Arizona without being able to speak English. It might have been scary at first, but we can’t help but cheer for Benny as he eventually makes the most of it.
Array produced by Ava DuVernay and executive producer Taika Waititi makes yet another amazing Netflix coming-of-age film titled Frybread Face and Me.
The opening title card of the movie reads “San Diego 1990,” but writer-director Billy Luther quickly transports us across state lines to Arizona. A grownup version of Benny, our main character provides introductory and closing narration while young Benny (Keir Tallman) gets a feel for his grandma’s ranch during an undetermined summer vacation in Arizona. He loves Fleetwood Mac because he wears their t-shirt frequently and feels sad about missing out on his much-anticipated concert to be here this summer which he does not want to go — especially after being informed that he will be helping Marvin (Martin Sensmeier), an irritable uncle with cleaning up around the yard and so forth? How unexciting!
Anyway, Benny’s bilingual cousin Fry(Charley Hogan) soon comes along thus killing all hopelessness away from him. At first she clashes head on with benny before they become buddies later on. As Luther told us in a recent MovieWeb interview, his prior filmmaking experience is mostly in documentary form (apart from writing for AMC’s hit series Dark Winds, which is also interested in the Indigenous experience). And it shows; you’d swear these kids are just talking to each other in real life.
Fry introduces Benny to the love of her life (on TV, that is), Jeff Bridges. When their grandmother sits at a corner of the living room and refuses to learn English, they watch his films together. But not even Fry being a linguistic bridge between Benny and his grandma is good enough for him initially. What he still needs though is $39, which will enable him return back to California by bus.
Later on, however, Marvin gets injured gravely during a local rodeo show after taking Benny there. If Marvin was bitter before then you can only imagine what he’s like now that he has lost his legs because of the bull riding accident. Then another relative of Benny comes over and its played by a familiar Breaking Bad face: Jeremiah Bitsui who rounds out an incredible indigenous cast capable of being extremely funny through relatable family antics among other things; Kahara Hodges also gives a strong performance as their Aunt Lucy who does Fry’s makeup for fun and dreams about living in Phoenix where urban life is much cooler than it currently is here.
With recent popular projects like Reservation Dogs, Killers of the Flower Moon and now Frybread Face and Me, Indigenous filmmakers and actors are showing no sign of letting up in Hollywood. Kiwi director’s Frybread is a comedy that epitomizes his style while an impressive soundtrack filled with toe-tapping music accentuates the uplifting tone. Benny and Fry remain fun to watch from start to finish which includes causing trouble on the farm when they mistakenly let out a valuable sheep. They even took their family car for a joyride once which did not go well with elders for sure. But hey, it is all right because nobody or nothing gets hurt in the process according to them. Besides, this mischievous act ultimately results to finding the missing sheep and consequently saving it.
It would be interesting to see these main characters as adults in some sort of sequel or follow-up. They’re just good company.
Grandma always has wise words such as “Your thoughts become part of what you are creating” for her grandchildren Bennie and Fry who will do what with such advises as they grow older? Apart from touching scenes, it also contains laugh-out-loud funny situations–even though there might not be any punchlines at those moments. For example, Shamu is what Beni often calls him thus he lives near SeaWorld.
Frybread Face And Me runs for 83 minutes tight, while sweet and short it packs quite a lot of meaning about our own upbringing making me wonder about how we grew up over certain summer vacations that may seem insignificant at first glance but upon reflection were probably instrumental moments in my life. I am misty-eyed thinking back on my childhood glory days knowing that certain summer vacation episodes looked frightful initially but paid off handsomely by embracing chances presented before me.
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