'Wildcat' Review: A Well-Intended Bio Pic That Keeps Us at Arm's Length [TIFF 2023]
Despite being full of heart, a clunky script supported by stilted performances holds this film back.
Ethan Hawke is one of the most talented actors of a generation, with countless influential and iconic roles. In recent years, he has taken the step from on-screen to off as author and director, with Wildcat as his most recent project. This film initially debuted at this year’s Telluride Festival and has now screened at TIFF.
Buzz for this title began not only due to the release of a new film involving Ethan Hawke, but also because this marks the first time he has artistically collaborated with his daughter and rising star, Maya Hawke. She is most well-known for her role as Robin in the later seasons of Stranger Things, but for the last couple years, she has begun to pop up in more and more films. This year alone, she has a part in four movies: Asteroid City, Maestro, The Kill Room (which is in post-production), and, of course, Wildcat.
Wildcat follows American novelist Flannery O’Connor (played by Maya Hawke) as she works to write and publish a novel. Scenes follow Flannery as she co-exists with her family, interacts with other residents of her small town, and struggles with the diagnosis and following implications of lupus. Throughout the film, there are breaks when Flannery gets inspiration, and the viewer is transported into imagined worlds following American countryfolk as they experience quirky situations. There’s some fun characterization here, but the ‘short story’ style makes it a little clunky and hard for the viewer to emotionally attach. This is quite clearly a passion project from the mind and heart of Ethan Hawke, but, unfortunately, this fails to translate.
The cinematography is lovely, and the set and costume design are awesome, fitting the varying settings of the film. However, despite any technical pros, the script is where this film falters. Unnecessarily elaborate dialogue and bloated in the wrong places, the run time of only 105 minutes begins to feel doubled, causing viewers to check their watches a little more than desired. While the subject (Flannery O’Connor) is naturally interesting and there seems to be potential for a great, immersive film, Wildcat does not persuade the viewer to take a bit of Flannery home with them and explore the ideas for any amount of time after the screen fades to black.
Despite Maya Hawke’s innate likeability, her performance is quite awkward at times, making the viewer hyperaware that they are, in fact, watching Maya Hawke play a character. The stilted performance prevents that feeling of getting lost in the fictional world on screen. There are certain scenes that feel more natural to Maya’s instinctive acting skills; in particular, one short story segment fits very well, but unfortunately, this does not carry through. Phillip Ettinger, playing Cal Lowell, is also unconvincing, and the scenes featuring Hawke and Ettinger alone are stiff and unnatural. Possibly a result of a convoluted script, many performances felt uneven, save for Steve Zahn’s screentime as one of Flannery’s eccentric characters. As always, Zahn is electric and brings a lot of life to the film, but his role is regrettably short.
Overall, the viewer is emotionally isolated from the film, and eventually, watching it feels like a bit of a chore. There are special moments mixed in, but taken as a whole, this film doesn’t meet the high expectations fans of the Hawkes may have. Wildcat is definitely not a disaster, but slightly forgettable.