The glory of The Midwest in the 90s is on full display in ‘Snack Shack’ as it opens on our neerdowell fifteen year old heroes A.J. (Conor Sherry) and Moose (Gabriel LaBelle) as they scramble from the off track betting parlor to make it back to their school field trip in time for departure from the Henry Doorly Zoo. It’s nice to see an Omaha landmark in a film! And a fun film to boot!

There’s enough film making quality to fall in love with in Snack Shack right from the get go, the acting is physical and phernetic from both of the young men. Gabriel in particular, who would go on after this to steal our hearts in The Fabelmans as a character based on a young Steven Spielberg is intense, charming, and chaotic all at once. Every time you see Moose you can only assume that the rug will be pulled out from under him at any moment, but that even if it is he will find a way to recover. Moose is stitched together entirely of charm, cigarettes, and booze. He’s exactly the kind of kid you wouldn’t want your child hanging out with except that after talking with him he’d talk you into you letting him borrow your car so they could get home safe at the end of the night. And after he did he’d probably bet the pink slip in a drag race, and he might even win!

And while Conor Sherry’s A.J. is a “good kid” that you’d want to protect, he’s still a teen and certainly inclined to cause some terror. While he does get talked into some of the more debaucherous schemes by Moose he is certainly not devoid of innocence. But he’s an Eagle Scout, his father is a judge, he can get away with a certain amount of messiness. It makes for a classic coming of age tale, one that we haven’t seen since the likes of at least Superbad, and the decidedly Midwestern setting hearkens back even further to remind us of a John Hughes type film. Something cinemas have been aching for for far too long. Not only is everyone’s performance brilliant enough to keep the viewer entranced, but the smash cuts, and soundtracks keep their criminal activities thunderous and exciting.

I don’t want to lead you astray, as much as I enjoyed ‘Snack Shack’ It’s not devoid of problems. Like any coming of age movie, particularly one centered around, and written/directed by men (John Hughes included) the film’s underwriting of the female characters is predictable if not disappointing. Mika Abdalla plays Brooke, the literal girl next door, visiting her cousin while her father is stationed nearby. And while her performance is wonderful there’s not exactly a lot to go on. Writer/director Rehmaiher manages to avoid any clunky manic depressive pixie dream girl tropes, which is admirable. But it would’ve been nice to see a little more interiority of her other than “likes cursing and cameras.” There’s a predictability in the “fall in love with the dorky one, creating a rift between the two friends, have to leave when her father gets called away elsewhere.” It’s disheartening to see as good of a performance as Mika puts out be used primarily for teaching a lesson to A.J.

But even with some tropey character problems the film manages to feel very fresh for the first half. There’s a level of danger in the boys activities that will keep you engaged, be they brewing their own beer under the bed, pulling their college fund out of the joint account they have with their parents, or chucking rocks at cars for revenge. All of their get rich quick schemes invariably fizzle out, pushing them towards bidding on running the titular “Snack Shack” at the local pool. an act they hope will enable them to make their millions, just like the heroes they have on a poster in their room, Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas in “Wall Street.” If there are grander concerns about capitalism and greed, those notes are hard to pin down behind the general coming of age vibes of the film. At one point Moose wants to take his money and invest and A.J. does not, it’s the first rift in their friendship. The first sign that while high school friendships are strong, it might not be A.J. and Moose, ride or die against the world forever.

It’s not until the predictable falling out of the two best friends that the movie starts to lose it’s way. I can’t help but feeling even with a lean one hour and fifty eight minute run time the film starts to feel a little overlong. Especially something like this that is not exactly redesigning the wheel, it’s hard to be riveted by the inevitable outcome that A.J. and Moose will get over their fight, having grown a little after both falling for Brooke.

SPOILER ALERT: The one “surprise” in the film is when A.J.’s role model Shane, played perfectly charmingly by Love Simon’s Nick Robinson, tragically and suddenly dies in a car crash.

It’s a big catalyst of what brings the two boys back together, and while Robinson’s performance is very strong, you do feel him missing from the film, it seems to me that part of young friendships is that fights happen. Especially fights over crushes. I’m not sure I needed an incredibly tragic death to be what brings our heroes back together. The tone doesn’t exactly fit within the film, but it does give way to a marvelous moment between A.J. and his dad; The Judge who wouldn’t let A.J. have a beer at the BBQ they were having earlier in the film. A.J.’s dad sitting silently on the porch after talking with him about Shane’s car crash, silently hands him a beer and the two quietly sit their drinking, reminiscing about what Shane meant to them.

One of my favorite thing’s about the movie though is the actual ending, and this has more to do with the fact of their age than the last act of the film. It closes on Moose and A.J. having fun, running the Snack Shack. Because they’re so young, about to go into high school you know they have time together. Many coming of age films end with the character leaving their family and friends and going off to college. It was a breath of fresh air for this to let you sit and know as the credits roll these two guys have a little more time together to pound beers behind their parents back, hatch more get rich quick schemes, and continue to cause chaos throughout Nebraska City.

3.5/5