Multi-talented
actor-writer-producer Alex Wolff, best known for his strong supporting
performances in Patriot’s Day and Hereditary, is one of the brightest
young shining stars currently breaking into the film industry. Starting out as a child actor on the
Nickelodeon series The Naked Brothers
Band before amassing a wealth of titles behind him over the next decade,
Mr. Wolff also teamed up with his older brother in the musical duo Nat & Alex Wolff, furthering his
diverse creative range as a performer and an artist. It was only a matter of time before the young
prodigy would set his sights on trying his hand at film directing which brings
us to the actor’s debut as writer and director: The Cat and the Moon.
A
familiar but no less engaging and sympathetic coming-of-age story, The Cat and the Moon like Malcolm
McDowell’s semi-autobiographical surreal comedy O Lucky Man! stems directly from the actor’s own most personal life
experiences. Like the character Nick
(Alex Wolff), he’s the son of a Jazz musician (late in the film’s case) and is
in the midst of finding himself. In the
case of Nick, displaced from his Detroit home after his father’s passing and
mother’s stint in drug rehab, the boy temporarily relocates to New York under
the care of his father’s former music partner Cal (Mike Epps). While there, the film follows his
day-to-night mingling with fellow high-schoolers bombing around drug and
alcohol parties while coming to terms with his own sense of rootlessness in a
world of endless possibilities.
Moving
at a leisurely but consistently captivating pace, The Cat and the Moon leaves ample room for Mr. Wolff to flex his
acting muscles while testing the waters of mounting a film production of his
own. Aided by a soothing, moody Jazz
score composed by Wolff himself alongside his father, the experience of
watching The Cat and the Moon is a
bit like a promenade with some tense yet revelatory moments and an overarching
tender sincerity permeating the whole thing.
Of Wolff’s performances to date, this is easily his most honest and
closest to heart. Also strong in a welcome
turn is Mike Epps as his father’s friend/surrogate father to Nick. For an actor usually cast in comedies, Epps
brings a wealth of dramatic weathers to his role and provides an excellent
contrast to the largely youthful cast.
Though
Alex Wolff’s film depicts a coming-of-age cinematic road we’ve been down
numerous times before, The Cat and the
Moon works anyway for its sincerity and the strength of the film’s leading
actor/writer-director. As a snapshot of
youth culture amid the New York night life, the film was a bit of an eye opener
which touched on the city’s drug scene without going overboard. Mostly though, this is Wolff’s show and for a
first time effort in the director’s chair the man is a lot better at it than
you’d expect.
A confident and
consistently entertaining directorial debut, The Cat and the Moon hopefully promises more feature filmmaking
efforts from Mr. Wolff who has already more than proven he has the chops to
tell an endearing story you can relate to while making a personal statement
that is unmistakably from his own life experiences. Its quiet charm will inevitably grow on you.
--Andrew Kotwicki
