The pre-showings of the 4F kicked off with Kevin Smith’s latest film, The 4:30 Movie.

This is a cute coming-of-age movie that feels fairly biographical as the filmmaker leans into a young kid who loves movies and is obsessed with a girl. The boy, played by Austin Zajur, and his friends try to sneak into a rated R movie and deal with their friendship.

This is a cute film. There is a sweetness to it, even though there are several moments of Kevin Smith’s raunchy writing that feels in contrast to the film.

The film features several of Smith’s usual cast members including Ralph Garman, Justin Long, Harley Quinn Smith, Ming Chen, Rosario Dawson, Jason Mewes, Jason Biggs, Diedrich Bader, Jason Lee, and his wife Jennifer Smith.

It also features Ken Jeong, Sam Richardson, Method Man, Kate Micucci, Reed Northrup, Nicholas Cirillo, and Logic.

The three young boys are kind of obnoxious in much of the film, but there are some real solid relationships and the chemistry between Austin Zajur and Siena Agudong was real and very easy. They carry this movie with their scenes and their dialogue.

Overall, a nice little film to kick off the pre-show 4F.

3.5 stars