Thaindian News

Film: “LOL”; Cast: Miley Cyrus, Demi Moore, Ashley Greene and Douglas Booth; Director: Lisa Azuelos; Rating: *** 1/2

The battle between the generations has always made for enticing cinema. Yet nowhere in history has the generation gap between the young and the little older been more apparent than in our technologically advanced world where there are so many websites to ‘connect’ us all yet so less ‘human’ connection.

“LOL” navigates in the no man’s land between the two generations and though there’s really nothing new, its light, breezy manner and gentle humour that thankfully works to push the drama forward than trying to force you to laugh and works to make a pleasant and fulfilling film.

And with its various shades of love — between teenagers, people way past their romantic prime, mother and daughter etc, it becomes the perfect film to watch on Valentine’s Day.

As if dealing with her complicated love life with a cheating boyfriend, who she breaks up with wasn’t enough, under-18 Lola has to content with her divorcee mother having an affair with her father.

To ‘complicate’ things further, she finds herself falling for the best friend of her ex-boyfriend.

Lola navigates the minefield that is teenage life, through the complicated multiple lives she lives on social media and in school that result in sometimes tearful and at other, poignant moments.

It shows in very interesting manner how despite so much technology that is meant to ‘connect’ them, teenagers often find it difficult to connect with those around, be it their lovers, friends or parents.

“LOL”, a remake of a 2008 French film of the same name, navigates its material well.

Though there are many subplots, it does not lose way or get too gregariously close with any one of them. It resolves them with a lightness of writing and direction that makes it a very pleasing watch.

There is no attempt at making a melodrama and neither does it dwell on the seemingly frivolous complaints and heartbreaks of the kids in the film. This command perhaps comes because writer and director Lisa Azuelos’s last film was the original French.

If there were any mistake in the original, she obviously has had enough time to improve upon it.

Demi Moore plays a conflicted and overwhelmed single mom unsure when to be strict and when to be lenient with her daughter. She confidently sheds her ’sexy’ image in a role that will perhaps herald the second innings of her acting career.

Though the film is about love and generation-gap, it is something everyone would relate to in their own way. It could have been made anytime and would have worked. However, in our times of too much technology with sufficient technology infused in the film, it works even better.

It is a must watch for parents struggling to connect with their ‘connected’ kids and for young people who don’t know why their parent’s can’t understand them.