'SNL' Star Pete Davidson's New Movie 'Big Time Adolescence' Receives Rave Reviews

Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson has a new movie titled Big Time Adolescence on the way, and [...]

By Stephen Andrew

Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson has a new movie titled Big Time Adolescence on the way, and it has been receiving rave reviews.

The film co-stars Griffin Gluck (Netflix's American Vandal),
Jon Cryer (Two-and-a-Half Men), Sydney Sweeney (Netflix's Everything Sucks!), Emily Arlook (grown-ish), and rapper Machine Gun Kelly (Bird Box).

It is described as about "a suburban teenager" who "comes of age under the destructive guidance of his best friend, a charismatic college dropout." Big Time Adolescence recently screened at the Sundance film festival, and critics have been praising it ever since.

"Writer-director Jason Orley's debut falls snugly into a long line of cinematic teen depravity, from Fast Times at Ridgemont High to Superbad. But there's some real heart, and heartbreak, in his story; SNL star Davidson — leaning hard on the public persona we've come to know him for — seems literally made for the role, all jokey id and half-mast eyelids. And Gluck, beneath his Tiger Beat looks, has a sort of tender, watchful sensitivity," wrote EW's Leah Greenblatt.

Owen Gleiberman from Variety added, "The atmosphere of slovenly teen hedonism is authentic, and Orley has a filmmaker's instinct for how to let the rhythms of a scene play out."

"I have no idea how autobiographical Big Time Adolescence is (or isn't), but Jason Orley, the first-time filmmaker who wrote and directed it, certainly makes it feel like you're watching the anecdotal memoir version of a sowing-your-wild-oats teen flick," he also said of the film.

Hollywood Reporter film critic John DeFore called the movie a "bittersweet look at taking one's idols off their pedestals," and Richard Lawson from Vanity Fair wrote, "It sings the most when Davidson is on-screen, shuffling around with his lanky gait, screwing things up with the best of intentions."

"The end of Big Time Adolescence is bravely bittersweet, acknowledging that friendship, especially at a young age, is not always sustainable," Lawson went on to write, adding, "Silly, only-in-the-movies stuff happens in Big Time Adolescence: squirmy and embarrassing stuff, dirty stuff, potentially problematic stuff. But the film crucially keeps its grounding in reality, animated by a radiant kindness. That's awfully appreciated at the moment. All I can really say, I guess, is thank you, Pete Davidson. Can't wait to see what you do next."

At this time, Big Time Adolescence does not appear to have a wide-release date scheduled.

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