“The Peanut Butter Falcon” The Adventures of Zak

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Most people love a comingof-age story. There is just something about watching the protagonist (usually the accidental hero) figure out who he is and come into his own. “The Peanut Butter Falcon” offers this sentiment with a small twist. The movie is loosely similar to the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” — a young man feels confined by his situation and runs away to escape it. There are a few differences, of course. In “The Peanut Butter Falcon,” Zak (played by newcomer Zack Gottsagen) is a 22-year-old with Downs Syndrome. He was abandoned by his family and is stuck living in a retirement home. Zak feels there is more to life than chocolate pudding and bingo.

With the help of his roommate Carl (played by Bruce Dern), Zak escapes the retirement home and begins the biggest adventure of his young life. Like Huck Finn, Zak is illequipped to survive on his own, and runs across Tyler (Shia Labeouf) who is battling his own demons and a slave to his past mistakes. Zak befriends Tyler and convinces Tyler to help him travel to Florida so he can train with one of his favorite wrestles, The Salt Water Redneck (played by Thomas Haden Church).

While the duo travels to Florida, they are both being chased. Zak is being trailed by a retirement home employee, (played by Dakota Johnson) who later finds the establishment does not care for him the way she does. Tyler is being tracked by some really bad dudes he owes money to, not counting the haunting memory of killing his brother in an automobile accident.

The duo becomes a trio when Eleanor (Johnson) realizes that Zak is living his life, not just existing like he did at the retirement home. During their trek, the threesome find out who they truly are while fighting through adversary.

This movie had humor, sarcasm, and danger, all the positive qualities of a good movie. My only gripe about the movie was the length. Being only 93 minutes long, made it seem as if the movie ended just when the plot got good. Spoiler: it did end with a happy ending, though. I thoroughly recommend seeing this movie, you will not be disappointed, especially if you are a wrestling fan.