Every once in a while there will come a film where someone in said film has an identity crisis. They are treading water because they don’t know what to do in life. The movie The Worst Person In the World from a couple of years ago comes to mind. Now there is a new film with a similar premise although a bit different narratively called Chaperone.
A young 29-year-old woman named Misha (Mitzi Akaha), relatively speaking, is alienated by her friends and family for her lack of ambition; she finds acceptance and attention in the eyes of a bright 18-year-old athlete, Jake (Laird Akeo), who mistakes her for a fellow student. She goes along with this even though she knows it’s not good for her.
Writer/director Zoe Eisenberg chooses to show the flipside of a relationship that if it were a man doing this type of thing wouldn’t be acceptable. Because she is a woman though it is more accepted in society to have an older woman date a younger man. Unless of course if it’s a rich man then they can date whoever they want because of their money. I feel this stereotype isn’t fair but it is what it is. This situation is bound to have problems because of the 10-year age difference.
The movie is dubbed as not a love story because of the lie that is taking place but felt like the young man was in love with the older woman. It just wasn’t the same the other way around. She just enjoyed pretending she was this younger woman again and it made her feel good while this relationship was taking place. Even though I had no problem with the relationship others in the film did. The Akaha character expresses that her own parents are separated by 15 years so it should be alright. Her family, brother Vik (Kanoa Goo), her boss at The Palace Movie theater she works at, Kenzie (Jessica Jade Andres), and Georgia (Krista Alvarez), Jake’s mother, don’t agree. In fact, they think it’s reprehensible and irresponsible of her to do this.
Even though this story takes place in Hawaii there are still rules of engagement that men and women have to follow as it pertains to dating underage men or women. 19 is considered an adult for men and women in this country, and as such they should be able to make up their minds on who they want to date. The problem is that there was a lie that caused a miscommunication among the young man and woman. That’s the problem the film is trying to address. Is the Akaha character irresponsible or not? That’s the million-dollar question viewers of the movie will have to answer for themselves. There is a moral gray area here though.
Chaperone isn’t going through the motions like this woman is. She parties like a teenager but has to take responsibility for her actions when things start to unravel for her. Eisenberg lets the audience decide which side of the fence they are on. I like the ambiguity of the story in that regard. This isn’t as good as The Worst Person in the World but they are a bit different from one another as well. I’d say watch it anyway though and decide for yourself how good or bad this film truly is.
3 stars
Dan Skip Allen
Chaperone Premiers on January 19th at The Slamdance Film Festival
From the Fourth Row! 
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