'Snack Shack' is a coming-of-age delight
The new film, set in 1991 Nebraska, is Adam Rehmeier’s successful follow-up to 'Dinner in America'
The poster of the famed 1980s John Hughes movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, a staple of walls in my college dorm, featured the slogan “Leisure Rules.” But that was never entirely accurate. Ferris, with his endless web of schemes and hustles that enabled him to skip school and get away with it, wasn’t about relaxation. If anything, he worked a lot harder on his day off than he would have had he gone ahead and gone to school that day.
The spirit of Ferris lives on in Snack Shack, a winning new period coming-of-age movie out in theaters this week. Set in a very specific time and place — small-town Nebraska in 1991 — Snack Shack is the story of a couple of hustling 8th graders who appear to draw quite a bit of inspiration from the Ferris Bueller tradition. One of them even has a sister named Jean, who openly disdains him.
(I was about the age these boys were in 1991, and I’m from the Midwest too, although this movie doesn’t quite recall my middle school experience; I never thought at 14 that I should be running my own business.)
Adam Rehmeier directed the film, and this is his follow-up to the pandemic-era indie triumph Dinner in America, also set in the Midwest of the early 1990s. That film starred Kyle Gallner as a chaos-courting punk singer, and it’s slowly built up a fan base from those who have watched it on Hulu. I wouldn’t be shocked if Snack Shack, which hits theaters this Friday, has a similar trajectory.
There’s no way a story this specific wasn’t at least a little bit autobiographical; Rehmeier, like the characters, hails from Nebraska City, Neb. His is a very different cinematic version of Nebraska than what we’re used to from Alexander Payne; for one thing, it’s missing the dripping condescension.
The boys are A.J. (Conor Sherry) and Moose (Gabriel LaBelle- the young Spielberg from The Fabelmans.) As evidenced by the posters on their walls of Oliver Stone’s Wall Street and another famous Nebraskan, Warren Buffett, they’re budding entrepreneurs, engaging in schemes like brewing their own beer and slipping away from school field trips to hit the dog track. Throughout, they bicker and sometimes get in actual fistfights- and that’s before a girl gets between them.
Like Cooper Hoffman’s Gary Valentine in Licorice Pizza, they’re precocious businessmen who bounce from idea to idea; early in the film, they seize the idea of taking over the license to run the snack shack at the local pool. And much like Gary, they end up smitten with a comely young woman. It’s Brooke (Mika Abdalla, from the Hulu movie Sex Appeal), an army brat lifeguard who’s a bit more worldly — and a great deal meaner — than any of them are used to.
Naturally, both boys fall instantly in love with this gorgeous newcomer, and things turn towards tragedy and eventual poignancy.
The other big thing that stands out is the cast. All three performers look like future stars, although since all three are firmly in their early 20s, I’m not sure why the film makes them incoming high school freshmen. Nick Robinson has some poignant scenes as an older brother type, while David Costabile (from Breaking Bad and Billions) is A.J.’s taciturn dad.
The early ‘90s detail is primarily spot-on, although I don’t know that “Risk it for the biscuit” was an expression anyone used in 1991.
Sure, there’s nothing wildly original about the structure, but the witty script helps the film stand out. Snack Shack reminded me of Adventureland, the summer coming-of-age movie with Jesse Eisenberg and Kirsten Stewart. The Last Picture Show, I think, was a likely influence as well, especially with the small-town setting and one scene in a movie theater.
It may not feature stars – at least, not yet — but Snack Shack is a delightful little film that deserves a chance.