The Tribeca Film Festival doesn't typically yield much in the way of major box office or award season successes, and 2015 may not be much different, aside from a particularly strong documentary slate. But Ashby, from Australian filmmaker Tony McNamara (The Rage in Placid Lake) shows some potential for graduating out of the festival circuit for a successful theatrical run.
Ashby, a nod to the director Hal, is a buddy comedy in the vein of Harold and Maude, but the title character is a retired CIA assassin (Mickey Rourke) who has been given three months to live. His 17-year-old neighbor, Ed (a skilled-beyond-his-years Nat Wolff), has been given school assignment to profile “an old person.” While Ashby, imminent death notwithstanding, doesn't consider himself old, he plays along – largely because he can't drive and has a few important “errands” to do before his time is up.
“I wanted to make a coming of age/facing your death movie that was kind of funny,” McNamara said in a Q&A after a Tribeca Film Festival screening Monday. And Ashby is indeed very funny at times, thanks in no small part to a solid performance from Sarah Silverman, who plays Ed's single mother. (Though I do wish the youthful and very attractive Silverman wasn't cast as someone we are expected to believe is desperately over the hill.)
Wolff, who is paired for a second time with Emma Roberts after co-starring with her in 2013's Palo Alto, is Ashby's best hope for critical and commercial success. The 20-year-old talent already exudes a thinking man's leading man appeal, and has won the heart of the coveted teen market with a scene-stealing role in Jon Green's The Fault in Our Stars, an overwhelming box office success – over $300 million worldwide – that also earned him two Teen Choice awards.
McNamara credits his own teenage daughter, a big Jon Green fan, for putting Wolff on his radar, and said he knew immediately upon meeting him that he should play Ed. Though Rourke's is the title character of the film, Ashby belongs to Wolff, who perfectly balances teenaged awkwardness and naivete with preternaturally strong comedic timing. An upcoming leading role alongside Cara Delevigne in Paper Towns, another Jon Green adaptation, should be the tipping point in launching Wolff to A-list status.
But Ashby's appeal is not limited to the YA set. Adult audiences will no doubt be drawn to Rourke in a role that makes use of his intensity but also adds an element of quirkiness we don't typically see. If Rourke has been this funny before, I haven't seen it. (Ashby's wardrobe alone, which Rourke designed, is something to behold.)
It likely wasn't intentional, but Ashby at times has echoes of Diablo Cody's Juno, with its smart dialogue and cross-generational friendships. Though its self-consciously clever banter was alienating to some, Juno was one of the most successful independent films of the last decade, certifying Ellen Page and Michael Cera as major stars. Ashby could easily follow in the footsteps of surprise indie hits like Juno and Little Miss Sunshine – assuming it gets distribution. And the box office potential for this brainy comedy should make that a no-brainer.
