Fun size candy is always a disappointment — much like the movie of the same name, also misleading in suggesting it’s both “fun” and a critique of “Halloween,” yet it is more of a bait and switch. Low-on-the-radar due to the lack of stars and budget, this frustrating film treads a weird middle ground suggesting greater problems during its development, making and post-production. First clue was its struggles to grab a PG rating (which it never achieved), a curious effort as it is dirty, weird, dark and creepy – but non-committal in going all the way. It stops just shy of where it should go, while tip-toeing into territory it should avoid. The elements of comedy and drama never mesh despite individually strong scenes and it lacks a real prospective on these characters and situations as everything just comes off as a sketch.
The failure these pieces fit with a misguided tone and energy, falling on director Josh Schwartz, who arrives to Fun Size from television where you have a larger scope to achieve a balance of comedy and drama, in the form of characters that develop over a longer period of time. Fun Size contains moments of broad comedy (many in the very funny trailer), that arrive with little energy in the film. As Schwartz is unable to keep pace and comedy being dependent on rhythm, here it’s out of sync despite landing a few laughs.
One fatal flaw is character development, especially with the leading ladies – Ren (Victoria Justice) and her BFF April (Jane Levy). April is simply too mean to Ren and the world — in any other movie she’d be a villain, here she’s just self-centered fact of the story. Ren is a good student (or an NYU legacy, but she seems smart and hardworking), considering a Ruth Bader Ginsburg costume before settling on Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. April steps out as a sexy kitty, and is more concerned about “social suicide” by being associated with nerds. You’d think as a life-long best friend she’d have some more sympathy for her dear friend Ren, whose father has passed on, her brother Albert (Jackson Nicoll) has gone mute despite lashing out, and her mother (Chelsea Handler) is dating a 26-year old dude named Keevin.
The plot is set in motion as Ren is courted by a “the cutest boy in school” — who is a rising rock star and later writes a crappy emo song for her, Meanwhile she should be with Roosevelt (Thomas Mann), a good guy raised by lesbian parents he calls his “Moms.” And here’s a problem with the portrayal of this “alternative family” — they are simply a cartoon. In a mainstream comedy there exists an opportunity to educate and create a real dialogue on gender issues and equality instead of alienate.
A film cannot be all things to all people but I am head-scratching left asking “who is this for?” — it’s not a family film, but it might be for 12-year old girls, and Ren is an interesting role model with a sympathetic mom (Handler has a great, but out of place scene as she connects with other adults on Halloween). The film aims to be the tween Superbad, even featuring a Carley Rae Jaspen playing directly before the film. The script (by Max Werner) contains the structure and elements of a fun film, but the execution is grossly mismanaged by Schwartz who can’t keep all of the balls in the air for the film’s 90-minute running time.
Fun Size is a master class in poor direction: the “concept” works, the performers are okay but underused, but the drama and comedy don’t build effectively because, beyond the exposition, there is no real sense April and Ren are really friends and the film refuses to take a point of view on anything.
Fun Size is currently in wide release.