Laggies – Movie Review

Laggies – R
Release Date: Fri 24 Oct 2014

Laggies follows the story of Megan, (Keira Knightley) who has been somewhat adrift with her group of friends from high school. She’s finished getting higher education, and her friends are pushing her to marry her longtime boyfriend, the similarly immature Anthony (Mark Webber.) When Anthony proposes, Megan accepts but then bails out of eloping to go to a self-improvement course if only to get some time away from everyone and figure out what she wants. She is sidetracked when she meets Annika (Chloë Grace Moretz) and after doing her a favor gets invited to stay at Annika’s house. She and Annika bond, and she also meets Annika’s divorce-lawyer father Craig (Sam Rockwell.)

Andrea Seigel’s screenplay expertly weaves Megan’s search for purpose with the strengths and weaknesses of the other characters. She finds a non-judgmental friend in Anikka who also could use some advice about taking charge of her own happiness. Megan’s mom gives her an example of how marriage and family aren’t the solution to not knowing what to do next. Sam Rockwell’s Craig steals every scene he’s in, but he also is a great example as to what a more mature relationship might look like built on honesty and enjoying life.

It would be pointless to try and put Laggies in a box with rom-coms or even straight-up comedies. It feels real and gives us a lot of characters to like and empathize with. No one gets all the way through the movie as a cliche or archetype, they all have something to teach Megan about herself, even if it’s just a reflection of herself. It’s a well-realized story that has relevance regardless of which character you most closely match in age and rings true for many people who haven’t yet figured out what to do next.

Aaron and I saw it in the theater and had a discussion afterward in the car: