When the wonderful Parks And Recreation wrapped up its run in 2015, Amy Poehler could have been forgiven for staying in TV Land and signing up to the next sitcom to come down the pike. Not her, though. Instead, she’s quietly reinventing herself as a fine director of acutely observed comedy dramas on the big screen — well, as big a screen as Netflix will allow. Her 2019 debut, Wine Country, deserved to make a bigger splash, and with her sophomore effort, Moxie, she’s made a teen comedy that, like the recent Booksmart and Eighth Grade, reinvigorates a genre that had long seemed stale.
As a director, Poehler is unobtrusive in all the right ways, keeping it simple, placing tone and character above visual impact (although she and DP Tom Magill are very good at capturing the wooziness and intoxication of young love). As you might expect from such an accomplished actor, she elicits excellent performances from her cast of young up-and-comers (and, yes, herself, as Vivian’s well-meaning but distracted mother). At the moment Patrick Schwarzenegger (yes, the son of Maria Shriver) is perhaps the best known of the bunch (and eminently hissable as the avatar of white privilege), but you’ll be seeing a lot more from pretty much everyone here. Hadley Robinson, the outright lead, is excellent as an introverted young woman who finds character she didn’t know she had, forged in the crucible of an inadvertent rebellion, but Alycia Pascual-Pena, as the new classmate who is targeted by bullies, thus provoking Vivian’s stand, and Nico Hiraga, as a charismatic male ally, are both excellent.
They’re very well served by a sharp script, adapted by Tamara Chestna and Dylan Meyer from Jennifer Mathieu’s novel. It’s not loaded with out-and-out gags, but there’s wit and warmth to the interactions here, and it’s particularly good on how the landscape has shifted in recent years, not just in the definition of acceptable language (watching Ike Barinholtz’s well-meaning teacher tie himself in knots when challenged on things like The Great Gatsby is a joy), but in acceptable behaviour.
Poehler has made a movie that’s provocative in all the best ways
This is a movie that, on the surface, is light and funny, but is fuelled by righteous anger about bullying, and worse, of women’s mistreatment in the workplace/schoolplace/anydamnplace. It’s mad as hell and it’s not going to take it anymore, and it’s at its best when Poehler is charting Vivian’s confidence spurts as Moxie, the group and the attitude, takes hold throughout the school. Interestingly, it also suggests that rebelliousness in and of itself isn’t enough, that even righteous protest has its limits, and is sufficiently smart and self-aware to include a female character — Marcia Gay Harden’s duplicitous head teacher — who is more than happy to stand in the way of progress and equality.
There are times when it perhaps strains a little too hard to make a point and veers into on-the-nose clunkiness, particularly in the third act. Until then, Poehler has made a movie that’s provocative in all the best ways, while never losing sight of the funny bone. It won’t be for everyone, but you sense that Poehler is very aware of who might not embrace this, and is totally fine with that.
