C´mon C´mon takes place in the US where Johnny is a radio journalist who needs to take care of his nephew Jesse. When Viv , the sister of Johnny, needs to take care of her husband, Paul, Johnny shows Jesse a life outside of Los Angeles.
C´mon C´mon is all in black and white and while you start thinking about this from the beginning you get sweeped away. We begin in Detroit where Johnny (played by Joaquin Phoenix) who is a radio journalist who interviews children how they think life will be in the future, better or worse. These insights are both positive, negative, serious but also very insightful where the children think about what we might be headed for. Johnny finds a surprising new friendship with his nephew Jesse (played by Woodie Norman), who is encouraged to think by Viv and really enjoys speaking his mind. All while Viv (played by Gaby Hoffmann) needs to take care of Jesse's more mentally unstable father Paul (played by Scott McNairy). Life itself might often be portrayed in black and white but the actors give the movie life and colour since we never know where life might take us and that we are always in for surprises.
The tempo is quite slow but gives you enough time to get to know the characters all while the photo and surroundings are beautiful. We often switch focus between Los Angeles (where Viv and Jesse live), New York (where Johnny lives) and New Orleans (where Paul, Jesse's dad lives). Sometimes the movie feels more like a family drama where the music is mostly sad and quite monotone but director Mike Mills finds a nice narrative tone throughout the movie. A movie that portrays much love and tenderness in all its sadness, how we try to understand children and the willingness to do the right thing as parents. A theme where thoughts about parenthood and how we try to build our relationships towards children are central.
C´mon C´mon have also been nominated for a BAFTA award in 2022 for best supporting actor, Woody Norman as Jesse.
