Indie Film Review “Casey Makes A Mixtape” Nostalgia, life, youthful struggles, and the sheer tedium of trying to obtain that LAST song
WATCH THE TRAILER BELOW:
First, the Recap:
Big hair, awesome music, newly sprung classic films, and a far more general atmosphere of fun. Yes, at least for many, that was the decade known as the 80’s. As with any timeframe we may have grown up in, our minds are filled with so much we recall, along with certain things we perhaps selectively forget, from “the good old days”. But one thing that never changes is the ever perilous frontier that is being a teenager. When life chooses to get challenging, it is those things we press hard into that get us through, often the music of the age that offers escape.
Casey (Presley Richardson) is one such 13-year old who currently has ONE particular goal in mind during the Summer of 1981….wrap up her most prized mixtape. Only lacking a single song to complete it, Casey’s trip to a small East Texas town to stay with her grandparents Poppy and Mimi (Brad Leland and Jennifer Griffin) while her Mom (Arianne Martin) goes on a trip is the LAST thing she wants to do. Yet, as the season progresses, new friends Craig (Julian Hilliard) and Carrie (Kennedy Celeste) help her to see that sometimes, what we least want or expect can yield the most fulfilling times we experience.
Next, my Mind:
There’s simply something undeniably refreshing when it comes to looking at life through the eyes of youth. Perhaps this becomes even more relatable when the era in which this is being conveyed just happens to be a personally experienced timeframe. Ok, so maybe I just seriously dated myself there. But, thanks to the new indie feature film that comes around from writer/director/producer/editor Blake Calhoun, producer Joey Stewart, co-producer Jon Keeyes, and executive producer Russ Pond, I will gladly do just that for the sake of taking a trip to the Land of Nostalgia while enjoying a grounded, delightful, engaging, fun-filled narrative that so many a Gen X-er (and MAYBE a FEW early Millennials) will find perfectly applicable to their own lives in a multitude of levels, honestly whether for good or bad, depending on what amongst the many thematic ventures the film takes might elicit within us. I say this only in that it is the variance in life that we’ve all come through and recollect from childhood which can bring up that which we would choose to forget, but hopefully more relish recalling.
With this effort, we find the story centered on a 13-year old girl from a broken home who is made to spend her Summer, very reluctantly at first, with her grandparents in a much smaller East Texas town while her rather cavalier mother chooses to take off to Paris, even as the finishing of a new mixtape provides the backdrop to it all. In the same overall vein as another recent indie feature I reviewed, “Magnetosphere“, what I absolutely cherish first about films of this style and dramatic/comedic genre is the uncomplicated nature of it, the ability to just sit back and absorb the essential beauty of rediscovering a bygone time and the reminiscing it provides, whether you literally remember the decade being portrayed or not. It heralds back to what it was to BE in that teenage mentality, the things that drove you, the songs that moved you (now via streaming playlists instead of, oh, what were those called…OH yeah, cassette tapes!), the situations that bugged you all while just attempting to take in and make sense of the choices those “older folks” (ie: parents, grandparents, et al) were making that WE thought made NO sense or were at all understandable.
However, I then genuinely appreciate the the deeper dives into a weighty and lighthearted mix of thematic tangents this film chooses to tackle, willing to give us plenty to laugh and get entertainment from yet not glossing over some of the issues that are necessary and relevant for us to be reminded of. Topics addressed include the realities of an unsettled home life, divorce and its impact on a child, being out of your comfort zone and/or element, adult vs. kid’s ideas of fun, boys being boys, how a teen’s idea of a parent’s clueless nature can influence choices and attitudes, the basic shenanigans kids get into, the “science” of making a mixtape, a girl being seen as a tomboy, what we do to seem “cool”, honesty being the best policy, healing of familial bonds, learning from our mistakes, and the deep desire for balance in life, the bonds of real friendships, and the associated acceptance that brings. As stated above, there’s a magical, wholly intelligent, and well-executed amalgamation of comedic and dramatic intent these facets are explored through that delivers the accessible atmosphere here. Plus, of course, the longing to get that LAST song!!
The film remains fully credible throughout, and the finale we get is frankly very open-ended in that while it IS momentous and complete in several aspects related to the story, there’s also a degree of “this is the beginning of something new” vibes as well. It leaves you fully satisfied while also promoting a certain magnitude of “oh, I wonder how this continues from here?” that befits the narrative adeptly and with wonderful sentiment. There’s a natural innocence that comes through young actors, a verity and sincereness of purpose in their performances, and I most certainly felt this way about Richardson through her lead role as Casey, a 13-year old facing the mother of all mountains to climb….obtaining that treasured last song to complete her newest mixtape. When having to spend what starts as only a few weeks at her grandparents home to being her Summer while her Mom takes an overseas trip, Casey’s hesitations about what she will even DO outside of staying in her room and attempting to comprehend what her grandparents feel is a “joy” for them to do together rears up.
But, when randomly meeting a local boy who then introduces her to another local girl, an unexpected and needed bond slowly builds between them, allowing Casey to feel more at home while still trying to process life’s struggles, her Mom’s flightiness in a possible new romance that extends Casey’s Summer stay, and getting into all the other things that teens do. How the Summer will end up impacting her becomes the narrative’s gist, and Richardson exudes such a wide range of emotional states and states of mind with great energy, infectious charm, but also a maturity that makes the character one hundred percent winning. Hilliard arrives as Craig, the boy Casey meets one day while out skateboarding in the neighborhood she’s staying in. Very keen to befriend Casey, Craig’s evident genuineness and comical awkwardness when being around her simply oozes playful insecurities paired with the kind of bravado as ONLY young boys try to embody, and watching now Hilliard navigates the character through these moments is amusing and heartening at the same time, and like Richardson, truly believable.
Celeste plays Carrie, a friend of Craig who is really the first of the newfound friends that makes an effort to get to know Casey and her situation. Becoming more and more both someone to hang out with and relate to, Carrie also is a confidant whom Casey very much finds mutually shared viewpoints with. It’s an authentic friendship that Casey needs, and I loved Celeste’s ability to create her unique mix of drama and wit that sells you on the character throughout the film. Griffin excels through her role as Mimi, Casey’s very doting, bubbly, but also protective grandmother who very much turns into a catalyst for Casey to realize the importance of, yes, being a teenager, but also growing up and acknowledging our missteps as well as our victories. Basically, she’s the kind of grandmother most of us might recall or have in our own lives, and Griffin encompasses this astutely and with total commitment and poise. Leland is the “male mirror” as it were of Griffin through his role as Poppy, Casey’s grandfather who is not only loving and supportive of her, but carries his own specific amount of mischievous behavior that adds excellent instances of levity.
But make no mistake, like Mimi, his protectiveness of Casey is indisputable, and even when he seems a little to casual or playfully carefree about things going on, his devotion to family and to Casey always shines forth with total resoluteness. Again, this is the kind of grandfather you have or had ideally, and Leland is so affable and lovable via his performance. Primary supporting turns arrive first from Martin as Casey’s relatively wayward, not quite as attentive as she should be mother whose decision to jet off to Paris with a potential new husband forms the basis for Casey’s Summer plans to be…amended. Brandon Potter appears as Casey’s father whose absence has been a source of relief for her Mom but a sore spot and longer to reconnect for Casey, though which wins out when he shows up remains the question. Susana Gibb is Craig’s Mom who more than makes her presence known when her son has invited Casey and Carrie over for a backyard party! Patrick Britton plays a local record store clerk, Oliver Tull is the store’s owner, Bil Arscott is a local drug dealer, and Stephen A. Elkins is said dealer’s client.
So, in total, “Casey Makes A Mixtape” deftly produces a trip through more recent yesteryear with all the “trimmings” of the decade it resides within while offering up a tale of adolescence, its pitfalls, its triumphs, the merit of camaraderie, the obstacles we must overcome, and the simply wonder of how a single song needed for something we value can end up taking us places we originally thought mundane or impossible to enjoy. Finding out otherwise is the payoff, and here it is a payoff worth watching. So, jump in that classic Trans-Am, rev up the engine, crank that newest mixtape, head to the arcade for some “Galaga”, defiantly cry “I want my MTV!!” and come along for this affecting, winsome dramedy.
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
