A bitingly funny coming-of-age story of a teenage cartoonist who rejects the comforts of his suburban life in a misguided quest for soul.
A highlight of this year’s Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, FUNNY PAGES is a hilariously dark, pleasantly unexpected coming-of-age story from actor-turned-director Owen Kline. After his mentor dies in a freak accident, a promising 17-year-old artist (Daniel Zolghadri, EIGHTH GRADE) abandons school and his spoiled suburban lifestyle to live as a cartoonist on the outskirts of Trenton, and among the city’s fringe figures to whom he willingly gravitates. Produced by the Safdie brothers and shot on 16mm by Sean Price Williams (Hunter Zimny), Kline’s feature debut draws surprising connections between the lo-fi traditions of 1990s and early 2000s American indies and the vividly observed marginalia of underground cartoons, but its distinctive, cringe-inducing humor and genuine affection for its characters establish a world belonging completely to the filmmaker.