PIC of the Week – Troop Zero
Article series by Ray Schillaci
As I’ve mentioned before, because of the circumstances we are now faced with on a daily basis, I decided my PICs would not just be new releases on physical medium (DVD, Blu, 4K). Studios are making available digital releases sometimes two months in advance before discs are released. And, there are the countless streaming channels releasing their own productions: Netflix, Amazon, Hulu among others. This takes me to one of the most touching and charming movies I’ve seen in years, Amazon’s Troop Zero.
For some, that title alone will be a turn off. Unfortunately, titles have become as important as a log line for the sale of an entire script. For god sakes, whatever happened to giving a story a chance and enjoying the substance of the material? Many of us have moved from fast-food generation to light speed ADD subjects. We tend not to give a movie a chance if it doesn’t grab us in the first five minutes. So, when a wonderful film like Amazon’s Troop Zero comes along that commands a little attention and love with its sweet tale of children viewed as misfits and how they overcome their adversity, it’s like a breath of fresh air and should be seen by all – if you have a heart.
It’s 1977, there is talk of sending a satellite into space giving a brief glimpse of mankind for anyone out there to hear and see. The voices of children greeting our hopeful alien encounter is included in this package. Those voices will be handpicked from a troop of little girls, Birdie Scouts, in competition during their Jamboree in Wiggly, Georgia. A little misfit girl, Christmas Flint, dreams of outer space and aliens, always going out at night gazing at the stars and talking to whoever might be listening. When she hears of the contest, she jumps into action and immediately wants to be part of the group.
The other children are cruel, dismissing her as white trash, a “bed wetter,” and refusing to accept her. But, Christmas is undaunted and decides to form her own troop with other misfits, a girl with anger issues named “Hell-No,” an overweight destructive child called “Smash,” a little one-eyed Jesus lover, and a boy-girl obsessed with David Bowie. The only thing left is a Troop mother, and Christmas asks her father, a failed attorney living and doing business out of a trailer home, if she can borrow his assistant, who, it just so happens, can’t stand little girls.
From there, we see the kids fight for the right to be a troop, struggle to get their merit badges, and push to get into the Jamboree so they can compete against the privileged children. There are big laughs throughout, tearful moments that will tug at your heart, and you won’t stop rooting for these underdogs. Stories of this kind can so easily go south, come across maudlin, saccharin sweet and/or juvenile and sophomoric. But Troop Zero avoids all those pitfalls.
I have not seen such genuine feelings and a root-for-the-longshot theme since Michael Ritchie’s The Bad News Bears, Smile and John G. Avildsen’s Rocky. The directing team of Bert & Bertie have such a light, sensitive touch to the well-written material and they get the most out of their wonderful cast. Lucy Alibar, who impressed so many critics as co-writer of the highly praised Beasts of the Southern Wild is the single scribe on this film and was inspired by her own play, Christmas and the Jubilee Behold the Meteor Shower. Alibar gives us real people rather than caricatures of ones while creating delightful snappy dialogue delivered by this very talented ensemble.
McKenna Grace as Christmas will break your heart. She gives such a grounded performance she makes it look effortless. Her Southern drawl is adorable along with her hand-me-down look. Comedian Jim Gaffigan gives off an almost Jackie Gleason kind of vibe as the well-meaning father and business man that has no business running a business. He’s just too damn big hearted. Then, there is his grounding wire, Viola Davis as his assistant who could have been a much better lawyer had her feelings not been trampled on at a young age. She’s full of regrets and treats the kids more like little adults, pulling no punches.
Other supporting cast members are just as much fun to watch. Allison Janney as a snooty troop mother (she and her snotty troop members are annoying and illicit giggles). This is also the second collaboration with Allison Janney and McKenna Grace. The first was I, Tonya, where Grace played a young Tonya Harding. She also played Brie Larson’s younger self in Captain Marvel.
The other misfit girls in Christmas’ camp are a comic motley crew that grows on you pretty quick. Once again, I am compelled to make comparisons to ’76’s The Bad News Bears. You can’t help but fall in love with each one of them with all their faults.
What’s really nice is the natural way directors Bert & Bertie and writer Lucy Alibar create the natural camaraderie amongst the little girls, and some of the neighborhood. Troop Zero has all the earmarks of an uplifting family classic. There’s not one false note in the entire production. For those that yearn for a behind the scenes look at this marvelous movie and yearn for the extras usually provided on physical medium, look no further than YouTube to find a making of featurette and interviews that are just as much fun.
