‘The 4:30 Movie’ Review – Kevin Smith’s Most Sentimental Film Yet

Kevin Smith has been known for his funny, irreverent, and meta takes on the movie industry since his 1994 debut Clerks. He utilizes his encyclopedic knowledge of film history to pay homage and poke fun at some of the cinema greats while referencing lesser-known releases from the 80s and 90s. Almost all of his films indeed have some element of this, but he’s finally found a vehicle allowing him to throw every movie reference he could think of at the audience. Smith’s 16th feature film The 4:30 Movie follows a trio of high school boys in 1986 as they attempt to stay in their local cinema for three straight showings. Brian (Austin Zajur) cooks up this plan with Belly (Reed Northrup) and Burny (Nicholas Cirillo) after asking former fling Melody (Siena Agudong) out to the 4:30 showing of a rated R film. Brian is the resident movie guy in his friend group and relates nearly every situation to a random movie he’s somehow seen 17 times.

The 4:30 Movie is jam-packed with 80s nostalgia, with a reference or joke about the period coming every other sentence. The styles, the lingo, and the technology just seem to point us back to better days. One of the main trio, Belly, sports a thin rat tail hairstyle that fortunately has, for the most part, been left in the past. The color saturation and lighting are even turned way up to emulate the “good ole days” mentality of the 80s when things were simpler. Some of the more on-the-nose jokes come from our understanding of future events post-1986 and the reality of ideas or people simply not aging well. Smith’s writing doesn’t pull any punches as his characters make claims that we know won’t hold up. The film admittedly relies a little too much on this nostalgia for its humor, but that doesn’t take away from the fun. 

Our heroic trio all deliver solid performances, but Nicholas Cirillo as Burny outshines them all. Primarily known for a recurring role on Outer Banks, Cirillo is a relative unknown and really jumps off the screen. He gets to play the more flashy part, that of the cool guy that others look up to and the ladies love. Every line is delivered with a powerful confidence and wit that makes it easy to see why he’s so popular. We all remember a kid like Burny from high school, and Cirillo plays the 80s version of this kind of guy to perfection. Austin Zajur gives a grounding performance as Brian to balance Cirillo out and is the heart and soul of the film. You can tell Smith puts a lot of himself into this character, with his extensive knowledge of movies being at the forefront of his personality. These two performances play well off of each other and create a fun dynamic that carries throughout the whole film. 

While providing a lot of what you typically see in his work, The 4:30 Movie is Kevin Smith’s most sentimental film to date. There’s a level of seriousness that is often absent from his films that finds its way into the story and allows it to stand out in his filmography. Yes, there are some of the silliest jokes one could think of. But there’s also a great depiction of earnest longing felt in youth that is typically difficult to get right. We long to know what to do with our lives from a young age, and Smith channels all of these emotions effectively through his lead in both relatable and ridiculous ways. In a single day, we see Brian grow up before our eyes in the way he communicates with his friends, with the girl he’s interested in, and putting words to his dreams for his life down the road. Sometimes a day is all it takes to change a young person’s life, and The 4:30 Movie, as wacky as it is, reminds us of the importance of these life-defining moments.

The 4:30 Movie will debut in theaters on September 13, 2024, courtesy of Saban Films.