The bromantic comedy called Growing Up and Other Lies is about true burgeoning adulthood and the malarkey that comes with it.
When one of the members of a quartet bromance of near-thirty-somethings decides to leave Manhattan for, of all places, Ohio, the guys take him on a 260 block pilgrimage down the length of the island as a send off in Growing Up and Other Lies.
Of the friends we have Jake (Josh Lawson) the struggling artist returning to Ohio for whom these characters take this pilgrimage. Rocks (Adam Brody) a teacher, Billy (Danny Jacobs) a lawyer, and Gunderson (Wyatt Cenac) a laconic misanthrope take it upon themselves to use Jake's final days in the city as a send off to NYC by traveling through all its neighborhoods, but their ulterior motive is to convince Jake to stay and forgo the responsibilities that draw him back to Ohio.
It is very likely some people will not like this indie film, the characters are childish and painfully resistant to acting like the mature adults their ages suggest. The theme of the struggle to make it and romanticism of New York City has been bludgeoned to death. Their friendship can be likened to the regressing effect hanging with your high school buddies has on one's dominant personality. At its heart, the plot of Growing Up and Other Lies is the changing dynamic and disillusioning effect adulthood has when its harsh realities are far from the ideal one imagines.
The characters do not have anything unique about their personalities, but the dynamic works enough and is believable they were friends once as they poke fun at one another. My favorite character of the four was Gunderson who was responsible for a few laughs during the film. All the characters are comical in a Man Child kind of way, so perhaps older film viewers will not be as charmed by the infantile banter and bickering that represents the majority of the film.
In the end nothing much happens in the film and no arc of development exists in either the plot or the characters' development. In a way, its poignant and perfect given the subject matter of a film titled Growing Up and Other Lies. As a late twenty-something who is also resistant to responsibility, adulthood and falling short of aspirational expectations, I was amused enough to see the film to the end – but then again, I like these types of films.
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