I was born the same year Frybread Face and Me takes place, but that’s not the only reason I connected with its uplifting story about a young boy making the most of his summer vacation. No, he’s not snorkeling in the Bahamas or shooting archery with his classmates at day camp; California native Benny (Keir Tallman) is dumped at the Arizona ranch belonging to his grandma, who doesn’t speak English. Scary at first, but we can’t help but cheer for Benny as he ultimately makes the most of this experience.
With the acclaimed Taika Waititi on board as executive producer, plus the backing of Ava DuVernay’s company ARRAY, Frybread Face and Me is yet another wonderful coming-of-age feature to hit Netflix.
Fleetwood Mac and Jeff Bridges
Frybread Face and Me
Run Time 82 min
Language English
Studio Netflix, ARRAY
Director Billy Luther
The film’s opening title card reads, “San Diego, 1990,” but writer-director Billy Luther quickly takes us across state lines to Arizona. An older version of our protagonist Benny provides bookend narrations, but newcomer Keir Tallman steals the show as young Benny as he gets accustomed to his grandma’s ranch for an uncertain summer vacation in Arizona. He loves Fleetwood Mac, as confirmed by the T-shirt he often wears, and is bummed that he’s missing a highly anticipated concert because of these summer plans he wants nothing to do with — especially after learning he has to help his grumpy uncle Marvin (Martin Sensmeier) with yard work and various other chores around the property. Boring!
But despair be damned, as Benny’s bilingual cousin Fry (Charley Hogan) soon enters the scene and sparks Benny’s curiosity. She and Benny butt heads at first, but then a friendship blossoms. As Luther told us in a recent MovieWeb interview, his prior filmmaking experience is mostly in documentary form (apart from writing for AMC’s hit series Dark Winds, which is also interested in the Indigenous experience). This shows in the quietly grounded, realistic way these young actors converse with each other.
Array
Fry introduces Benny to the love of her life (on TV, that is), Jeff Bridges. They watch his movies together, with their grandmother sitting idly in the corner of the living room, refusing to learn the English language. Fry serves as the linguistic bridge between Benny and his grandma, but this just isn’t enough for Benny at first. He still needs $39, the exact amount required to catch a bus back to California.
Things on the ranch turn even tenser after Marvin takes Benny to the local rodeo and gets severely injured while competing. Marvin was already an angry soul, so you can only imagine how he gets once he’s reduced to a wheelchair. Another relative of Benny’s comes to visit, and he’s played by a familiar Breaking Bad face: Jeremiah Bitsui, who helps round out a stellar Indigenous ensemble that becomes relentlessly fun to watch thanks to relatable family antics and more. Kahara Hodges is also solid as their Aunt Lucy, who does Fry’s makeup for fun and has dreams of moving to Phoenix for a more exciting, urban lifestyle.
Related: The 10 Best Native American Actors of All Time
Reconnect with Your Roots
With high-profile projects like Reservation Dogs, Killers of the Flower Moon, and now Frybread Face and Me hitting the masses as of late, it’s clear Indigenous filmmakers and actors are continuing to make their presence known in Tinseltown. Waititi’s signature brand of comedy shines through in Frybread, and the uplifting tone is heightened by an impressive musical score laced with catchy, thumping songs. Benny and Fry remain exciting to watch all the way through, even when they’re causing trouble on the farm by accidentally letting a valuable sheep escape the property. They even steal the family car for a joyride at one point, which of course angers the elders. But it’s all good, as they say, since nothing and no one is harmed in the process. And hey, this mischievous act even leads them to find the lost sheep and thus come to the rescue.
It would certainly be rewarding to watch these principal characters all grown up in some sort of sequel or follow-up. They’re just enjoyable to hang out with. As kids, Benny and Fry are given words of wisdom by their elderly grandma, such as: “Your thoughts become part of what you are creating.” Who knows what they’d do with these kinds of advice as they get older? Along with the heartfelt moments, the film has laugh-out-loud funny scenes throughout, even in moments that lack a punchline. Fry routinely calls Benny “Shamu” because he lives near SeaWorld, for example.
At a tight 83-minute duration, Frybread Face and Me is short and sweet but packs a punch, as we’re left thinking about our own upbringing and how certain childhood summer experiences may have truly shaped how we are today, whether we realized it at the moment or not. I’m choking up just thinking about my glory days as a kid and knowing that certain summer vacation moments seemed scary and unpleasant at first, but ultimately paid off in spades by just embracing the opportunities before me.
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