REVIEW: Palmer is a Drama Many of Us Have Seen Before
Apple TV+’s latest drama, Palmer tells the story of Eddie Palmer (Justin Timberlake), an ex-convict who returns home after being released from prison and his struggle to restart his life. When Palmer begin mentoring a young boy, Sam (Ryder Allen) and falling for Sam’s teacher, Maggie (Alisha Wainwright), things begin to look up for Palmer. But, when Palmer’s past mistakes begin to resurface in his new life, Palmer will have to decide if he will continue to be hindered by his past choices or leave it all behind to start anew.
At the end of the day, Palmer reminded me a lot of Chris Evans and McKenna Grace’s movie, Gifted. A single man, taking care of a young child, who falls in love with the young child’s teacher. Both stories focus on the relationship between the man and the child and how the child helps change the man’s life. The only major differences are in Palmer, Timberlake’s character is an ex-convict and not related to the boy, while Evans’ character in Gifted is an Uncle who doesn’t have much to offer, but will do his best to give her the life she deserves.
Although, Timberlake is the clear lead in the movie, Allen’s performance ended up being my favorite. Allen will have you loving Sam from the moment you first set eyes on him. The relationship between Allen and Timberlake is tad bit stale in the beginning, but as the film progressed so did the chemistry between the two actors. Timberlake’s performance is a level at which we had yet to see from the former pop star. The depth and emotional range expected from this character proves how much he has grown as an actor.
Wainwright fits right in alongside Allen and Timberlake. Her ability to take a character that should have been a minor background character and bring her to the forefront in every scene she is in is a sight to be seen. Juno Temple stars as Sam’s drug addicted mom, Shelly and, though she is in it the least, Temple does such a nice job at portraying this character. Her performance will make you love and hate her character when all is said and done.
Palmer is a feel good film that focuses on how the love of a child can change a person forever. I would highly recommend having tissues near by just in case. There is one particular scene that will have some tearing up or, at least, attempting to hold off the tears.
Grade: B