The Throwback is a tender grown-up person film about parenting, the fight against getting older and duller, and ultimately the power of strong loving relationships that can make not being young tolerable.
While The Throwback is structured somewhat like a reverse of Big - 1988's Tom Hanks classic about a child occupying an adult body - the switch from middle aged mom to late teen younger self is a much more interesting, less well trodden path, and is handled with a deft hand by debutant director Mario Garcia.
Garcia lets the audience cheer unashamedly and vicariously at the obvious stuff - soccer mom doing shots at pool parties - before nudging us towards more thoughtful less black and white ideas about the differences between being young and irresponsible and older with kids. Refreshingly the movie doesn't try to drag you to a trite conclusion about whether being old is better, or worse or (yawn) just different.
There is enough room left for the audience to make their own mind up either way and that's what makes the movie so engaging and easy to enjoy.
Garcia loves nudging the audience towards a gag, and he keeps the comedy train on track. But he wraps the fun in enough intellect to make The Throwback interesting as well as funny.
That would have been a lot harder without two lead actors used to straddling that divide and who seem perfectly cast for this film. Justina Machado is super easy to see as the hot mom who can just about get away with suddenly become a party girl without it seeming silly to everyone, particularly if you remember her Six Feet Under heyday when she was equally brilliant as here (and just as hot).
And Will Sasso's big dad bod bursting with love for his spiraling wife is a step up in responsibility from his balancing sidekick role in Loudermilk but he brings an understated physical humor to the role while steering clear of absolute slapstick - mostly.
If you have kids and at times wish you didn't, this movie gets you - the guilt, the frustration, the impatience, the love, the routine, the tedium. And if the kids are out or tucked up in bed on a Friday night some time soon, The Throwback is a 100-minute escape from all that and a chance to feel okay about yourself.
