Palmer (2021)

Palmer (2021)

 

7/10

Starring

Justin Timberlake

Alisha Wainwright

June Squibb

Juno Temple

Directed by Fisher Stevens

Palmer is a cool movie which played safe by putting the lead in an already made family – Palmer filled in a role already being done by his grandmother. The movie then takes off from there, even though you can already predict the end from the start it is the journey to that end that is the movie I enjoyed. Justin Timberlake gave a fantastic performance, leading the way in trying to make a young boy feel comfortable in his own skin. You get to watch these two characters struggle with the person each has chosen to be then and later permit each to be all they can be.

The whole movie is about second chances, and even though you may have seen enough of that – I feel Palmer for all its worth tried its best to pull tears from my eyes in some places. It is so that it is the most likely places that you will swell up inside and watch the movie finally take shape.

Palmer starts with the character, Palmer (Justin Timberlake) getting out of jail and move in with his grandmother. We can tell he did not have the traditional upbringing and it seemed set that his grandmother raised him.

She was happy to have him back and he had to turn over a new leaf now that he is out face the challenges of getting a job and always have to be careful not to mess up his parole. When he had to take his grandmother to church a young boy joined them named Sam. Sam we get lived with his mother who is a drug addict and goes off on some long trips living Sam to stay at times weeks with Palmer’s grandmother. Palmer was not much of a fan of Sam who wants to be a princess and likes dolls. Sam gets picked on a lot because he also likes things like dress-up, putting on makeup and all that. What was challenging to know in this film is that Sam gets picked on not only by children, even adults too.

When the grandmother passes Palmer is the one left to care for the boy and he did it grudgingly at first, tried to change Sam and soon we get to watch them bond. We watch the challenges of the system which claims it wants to give you a second chance, but will not to a convict. A mother who loves her son, but her drug addiction is making it hard to care for him.

I will say that what carries this film over the bar for me is the acting from everyone in it. They were able to convey the needed joy you get when watching a good film and make you forget that time is passing by.

You can watch Palmer on Apple TV+.