The Scout - Movie Review

The Movie: The Scout

The Director: Paula González-Nasser

The Cast: Mimi Davila, Rutanya Alda, Max Rosen, Ikechukwu Ufomadu, Sarah Herrman, Alex Goldberg, Peter Mills Weiss, Jackson Devereux, Jesse Ruuttila, Lisa Haas, Otmara Marrero

The Story: A New York City location scout photographs the homes of strangers for a T.V. pilot, stepping into their private lives while trying to satisfy her erratic employers.

The Rating: 8 / 10

The Review:

As I sat down to watch this movie, I really had no idea what to expect and it turned out to be a really pleasant experience. The story is very smart and very funny in ways that are so human and relatable, you can really tell that director Paula González-Nasser must have lived a lot of the moments we see on screen. For a first-time directing effort, González-Nasser's experience in the industry really shines through as she's been crediting with just about every type of work you can think of including everything from sound department to production designer and, of course, location management.

Mimi Davila is on board as Sofia and I have to say her performance is quite brilliant. I love the subtlety and nuance she brings to the character which plays perfectly with the awkwardly realistic situations and conversations she finds herself in. There are so many times where just a facial expression or a posture or a tone of voice speaks volumes about what Sofia is experiencing and what is going on in her head and that's where the relatability factor of this film is at its finest.

The story just sort of meanders along in a day-in-the life-type of manor which can be really hard to pull off in an interesting and engaging way, but González-Nasser just makes it feel so perfect. In the movie's first 10-15 minutes, I was a little worried if it would be able to hold my attention, but it didn't take long for me to fully engage with the world Sofia is immersed in mainly because so many of the situations were recognizable to moments that I've experienced in my life.

That's really the magic of this movie, it says so much about people, relationships, and how we interact with each other without a lot really happening from a bigger picture perspective. This gives the viewer an opportunity to really take in and appreciate all those subtle details from all the characters and dialog. The story is also genuinely hilarious not because of crazy antics or anything like that, I was laughing so many times because of how real it is.

It was also nice having just been in Brooklyn and Manhattan a couple months ago because the movie completely captured what it feels like to walk those streets and hang out in those spaces. It's a totally different experience than what movies normally portray when it comes to New York, but again it just felt really honest and authentic in a very refreshing way.

This will be one of those movies that I look back on at the end of the year as one that I really enjoyed and as a story that will stick with me compared to so many films that are forgotten almost as quickly as it takes for the credits to finish rolling. Congratulations to everyone involved and especially to Paula González-Nasser for such a beautifully made feature film debut. Thank you for reading this review, please consider checking this movie out when you have an opportunity.