RIDE THE EAGLE: An Enjoyable Light-Hearted Comedy

Trent O’Donnell’s debut feature follows Jake Johnson’s forty-something Leif, who finds out his estranged mother Honey (Susan Sarandon) has passed away, leaving him her cabin in Yosemite on the condition that he completes a bucket list of sorts that she has created for him. As Leif completes the tasks, dictated by a VHS recording of his mother, he learns more about the woman who abandoned him at 12 to join a New Age cult, and also rekindles relationships he thought he’d left in the past.

The title itself is very indie-comedy (think Prince Avalanche or Tiny Furniture) and as admitted in the movie itself, it’s not exactly fantastic. Thankfully the film, whilst not exactly ground-breaking, is much better than its title suggests. This is thanks primarily to its stellar and charismatic cast who help raise up this swift light-hearted film.

A Worthy Reunion

O’Donnell, making the jump from TV to features for the first time here, worked with Johnson for five years across various episodes of the hit sitcom New Girl. The two reunited here with the pair sharing writing credits on the film too. O’Donnell couldn’t have chosen to reunite with a better star for this film, with Johnson’s laid back indie charm an excellent companion to the stunning Yosemite landscapes that O’Donnell‘s camera captures.

Johnson, still best known for his time as Nick Miller in New Girl, has in recent years established himself as a convincing independent comedy leading man, most notably in his three collaborations with Joe Swanberg. Whilst he doesn’t stray too far from what he knows here, he maintains extremely likable and watchable. There are few leading men better suited to the role of Leif, a bongo-playing musician who lives in a small cabin in the backyard of his friend/manager Gorka (Luis Fernandez-Gil) and seemingly does little else. Johnson utilises his everyman charm effectively, as Leif searches for his direction and meaning in life.

Write the Eagle

Ride the Eagle takes place at a stroll, befitting of the Yosemite surroundings, and its comedy is light and just sweet enough. Alongside the indie comedy standards, you may expect from the premise (the relationships we see develop, and the truths realised), O’Donnell and Johnson even find time for a short turn into thriller territory to spice things up. It’s ultimately not necessary and not fully successful, but it is an interesting diversion, in what is an otherwise straight forward and simple tale.

Johnson’s most notable previous writing credits are for Digging for Fire and Win it All, two Joe Swanberg-directed indies, which Johnson also led. The same easy-flowing, naturalistic dialogue of those earlier films is evident here, with Johnson no doubt given the chance to improvise and show off his comedic timing. The chemistry between Johnson and D’Arcy Carden, as ‘the-one-that-got-away’ ex-girlfriend Audrey, is electric from the beginning, with two very funny actors working with a great script. Their back-and-forth conversations are the highlight of this movie, and it’s easy to root for the pair even when their interactions take place entirely over the phone.

There are a few issues with the script though. The concept of the conditional inheritance is little more than a MacGuffin, with its instructions perhaps not as wild or as interesting as they could have been. They move the story along not least for the introduction of J.K Simmons as Honey’s scorned lover Carl, and make for a number of fun, short sequences, but when the emotional payoff eventually arrives for Leif, it rings a little hollow. Perhaps more time delving into the relationship, or lack thereof, at the heart of the story, would have allowed the finale to feel that much more cathartic. The tasks chosen for Leif don’t seem to have as much resonance for his development as the film thinks they do.

The Supporting Stars

Speaking of Simmons, despite being as solid as ever, his scene is one of the few where the jokes don’t quite hit the mark. The writing slips a little into obvious, one-dimensional humour, which feels at odds with the quality of the rest of the writing. Susan Sarandon on the other hand is better served, appearing as Leif’s deceased mother Honey in a series of videos she has filmed for her son. She is witty and endearing and completely believable even in the short segments we get of her.

It is D’Arcy Carden however who stands out, immediately stealing the spotlight from her first appearance in the film.  It is a delight every time she is on screen, bantering back and forth with Johnson‘s Leif.

Final Thoughts: Ride the Eagle

What’s perhaps most surprising, and is likely to go unnoticed, is how well Johnson does with what is an incredibly difficult ask. Although it is well-hidden, and there are a number of big-name stars, the weight of the film rests entirely on Johnson’s shoulders, with him front and centre of every scene. In fact, the number of face-to-face interactions we see Leif have can be counted on one hand. Most of the film is Leif and his dog Nora, out in the wilderness of Yosemite. To make that compelling and to pull together a convincing character arc with so little outward interaction is no small task.

O’Donnell’s first feature does not swing for the fences but not every film needs to. The film is as breezy as you’d expect from its 85-minute runtime, and there is always an enjoyment to be found with such an impressive cast. Even if it does not stray too far from the path of what one might expect from this sort of film, it’ll still manage to leave smiles on most faces thanks primarily to Johnson, the beating heart of the story, and his wonderful chemistry with Carden.

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Ride the Eagle is available now to own or rent on Digital Download.

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