THE 4:30 MOVIE
Starring: Austin Zajur, Nicholas Cirillo, Reed Northrup, Siena Agudong, and Ken Jeong
Director: Kevin Smith
PAIGE
Shamelessly sharing the love us movie nerds have for the moviegoing experience, Kevin Smith’s The 4:30 Movie is one of his most authentic and relatable films in recent memory. Even with clunky dialogue that is slightly cheesy, the flick has several things going for it. The story is endearing, the ensemble has excellent chemistry and is oozing with charisma, and while the premise is quite straightforward, it isn’t afraid to wear its heart on its sleeve. Overall, 4:30 may not be my favorite Smith movie, but it’s still a fun movie worth seeing.
PRESTON
You can tell that writer-director Kevin Smith is a true lover of film, and as a fellow cinephile, it is hard to not also love the creator himself. The 4:30 Movie endears us with its pop culture references, nostalgic nods to Clerks, and an unapologetic embrace of teenage humor and angst. It may rely on the cliché to drive us to our destination, but is assured in the knowledge that we will, at least, enjoy the experience. The dialogue is really what shines, as it follows along the themes you might expect in a solid Kevin Smith flick.
QUENTIN
The 4:30 Movie feels like writer-director Kevin Smith saw The Fabelmans and thought, “I can do that, but for my brand of film nerd.” So, he assembled an extremely meager budget and a cameo parade of View Askew stalwarts for an admittedly sweet but also slight and not terribly funny look at his childhood connection to the movies. There are a few, at best, clever references (mostly those using the “if people in 1986 only knew” set up), but even as someone who can see a lot of his own youth in Brian David (Austin Zajur), I found the movie lacking and a bit self-indulgent.
