Owen Kline’s “Funny Pages”

Funny Pages (2022)

Anti-coming of age that is grotesque, funny, uncomfortable and compelling in equal measure; it disturbingly mixes the grease of middleage with the ignorant sweat of youth, focusing on a young aspiring comic artist’s journey

Most coming of age stories tend to sugarcoat those angsty teen years by either limiting the challenges or ensuring the floor of negativity never goes too low. Be aware, “Funny Pages” has no qualms about leaning into the horror or making the protagonist a bit of an asshole which is quite refreshing though to be honest “refreshing” doesn’t gel nicely with this movie.

Robert(Daniel Zolghadri) is a 17 year old aspiring comic artist whose mentor, art teacher Katano(Stephen Adly Guirgis) pushes him to subvert wherever possible. He also dreams of his independence and moving out of his parents’ middle class house to Trenton, New Jersey ignorant to the world beyond. His friend Miles(Miles Emanuel) is inspired by Robert’s work and starts his own comic while also seemingly besotted by Robert. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg in what turns out to be a steep climb in his development.

Running at a concise but at times excruciating 86 minutes, it deals with the arrogance(and ignorance) of teenhood as well as questions around art; soul vs technical skills. Full of some of the most cringeworthy moments put to film, it’s a subversive approach to the anodyne coming of age films that are more typically told.

Recommended but be prepared, it’s not for the faint of heart.