comment #1

Daniel says ...

Unless you both started writing about this trend back with the Whit Stillman and Noah Baumbach films of the early-to-mid-90s, you're both late to this particular trend piece. "Kicking & Screaming" seemed like a small, fun, forgetable indie when it opened, but that's a movie that absolutely has held up, far better than most of the similarly talky Gen-X films of its time.

comment #2

Chris Molanphy says ...

Agreed, Daniel. Once the long-awaited Criterion edition of 'Kicking and Screaming' (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FUF7DA/ref=wl_it_dp/002-5005699-7318447?%5Fencoding=UTF8&colid=PPBY81C0NET8&coliid=I28TUYKHWO58WS&v=glance&n=130) comes out next month, critics will get a better sense of how far back the GenX-ennui genre goes.

comment #3

Colin says ...

Daniel, from my recollection, most of the films you mention are about (mostly) guys in their 20s, not 30s. For instance, "Kicking & Screaming" is about a group who has just graduated from college.

comment #4

Daniel says ...

You're right, Colin. They're also not about guys living at home. What they are about, though, is the nascent stages of arrested development that -- if you trust all of these filmmakers -- afflict people on the cusp of Generation X and Generation Y. The characters in "Kicking and Screaming" by now would have grown into the characters in "Failure to Launch" and "Groomsmen." It's the recognition that for a certain generation, the real world holds less allure than college or home...

Or so I figure...

-Daniel