Yellow Bird movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Yellow Bird

This heartfelt comedy is now streaming online and new to VOD

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 40 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

The film was directed by Angus Benfield, who also helped produce it and stars in the movie. Writing credit goes to Tony Jerris.

In the style of The Office and Schitt’s Creek comes a fun new comedy about searching for happiness, “Yellow Bird.” This heartfelt film, set in a small country-town grocery store named “The Yellow Bird,” is centered around once successful PR specialist Jake (Angus Benfield), now a stock boy in his mid-forties, struggling with his sobriety, and his conscience in the guise of a gnome (Brian Doyle-Murray) who is determined to remind Jake of all his failings, including his marriage. Jake’s mother, Rachel Rush (Kathy Garver), is struggling with Alzheimer’s and is living in an RV. Rachel is holding onto a past she remembers as much more adventurous and exciting than this life and is determined to find it once again, and Scotty, the protagonistic store manager who is stuck in a job his father wants him to be in, and so makes all the fun and quirky employees at “The Yellow Bird” miserable in return.

THINGS I LIKED:

The main cast includes director Angus Benfield, Brian Doyle-Murray, Kathy Garver, Plastic Martyr, Michael Maclane, Britt Crisp, and more. The hair stylist’s name is Melissa Disney. Woah. Would you want your last name to be Disney?
I like that none of the characters look like slick, Hollywood actors, but instead, real people.
Plastic Martyr has the funniest lines of everyone.
You may not recognize any of the actors in the movie, but you’ll definitely recognize the voice of Brian Doyle-Murray who voices Gnome.
If you love awkward movies, you’ll love the characters in this.
The song “Yellow Bird” at the end of the movie is very sweet. It was written and performed by Ruth Benfield and Scott Oatley in 2022.
Several characters talk about the definition of a yellow bird: it refers to the love of your life, the person you can’t live without. I’ve never heard that expression before. Have you? What I especially liked was that the film took it in another direction. Yellow Bird doesn’t just refer to a person but a profession or your passion in life too.
The movie was filmed in Redding, California.
I love that Jake actually takes pride in his job and is committed to sticking with the Alcoholics Anonymous program.
The characters really grow on you by the end of the movie.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Some of the dialogue isn’t very good.
Some of the acting isn’t good.
The movie looks and feels like a low-budget Indie film.
It’s a slow burn of a flick.
There’s a lot of corny overacting that made the characters look like cartoon characters.
There were a few rough editing moments.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Some profanity
A woman tries to hit a man
Talk of a one-night stand and a possible resulting pregnancy
Finding your life’s true passion

THEMES:

Community/Family
Friendship
Humanity
Kindness
Choices
Living your dream
Finding true love (your yellow bird)
Humility
Honesty

INTERESTING LINES:

“That’s the beauty of being sober, Babe. You become aware of all the things you closed your ears and eyes to when you were higher than a kite.” – – Krystal (Plastic Martyr)
“Like Dolly Parton says, ‘It takes a lot of work to look this cheap.’” – Krystal (Plastic Martyr)
“Sometimes, when you let go of the past, it opens up a whole new world.” – Gnome (Brian Doyle-Murray)