A ChucksConnection Film Review

 

Corey Fogelmanis wears black high top Converse “Chuck Taylor” All Stars in the film.

I Wish You All The Best

 

by Hal Peterson

Ben uses art work to express and pursue his dreams.

 

I Wish You All The Best is the story of Ben (Corey Fogelmanis), a non-binary 17-year-old who must transition from a traditional family life, thrown out after coming out to their fundamentally religious parents (Amy Landecker and Judson Mills). In shock and not even wearing shoes in the cold winter night, Ben takes refuge in a convenience store after making a desperate call to Aunt Hannah (Alexandra Daddario), even though they hadn't talked in over ten years. Luckily, Hannah is sympathetic, having been rejected by Ben’s parents also a dozen years ago. She tells Ben to wait inside the store until she can pick him up. Upon her arrival, she comforts Ben and drives him back to her home where she lives with her husband, Thomas (Cole Sprouse), and their infant baby. Both Hannah and Thomas welcome Ben unconditionally into their home. Now Ben has a safe place to stay but there are conditions. Ben can stay in their home as long as needed but they will need Ben to earn money to support them. It turns out that Thomas is a teacher at a nearby high school, and pulls some strings to get Ben admitted. Now Ben has the start of a completely new life.

 

Nathan shows Ben around the campus of his new high school.

Thomas takes Ben to his high school the next school day so Ben can enroll. He cleverly manipulates the parent authorization. Thomas also asks Nathan (Miles Gutierrez-Riley), to show him around campus. This turns out to be a very astute move because Nathan who is bisexual is part of the gay scene at the school. He is proactive in bringing Ben into his circle of friends which include Sophie (Lisa Yamada) who is Lesbian and Meleika (Lexi Underwood) who is straight but is very supportive of the gay community. Suddenly super shy Ben has a group of friends to hang with who make him feel “normal”, if such a thing is possible. Ben also gets incredible support from other adults. Besides his aunt and uncle, Ben is encouraged by an art teacher Ms. Lyons (Lena Dunham) who encourages Ben by saying how she expects great things from him, encouraging him to express himself through multiple media and not be afraid to present his work to outsiders. Ben also gets a job working with senior citizens on their artwork under the supervision of Chris (Brian Michael Smith), who later is revealed to be transgender. All of this forces Ben to develop real people skills, being on time for the job, letting Hannah know where they are, and being considerate of his friend’s feeling, especially Nathan’s, as they develop serious feelings for each other.

 

Ben talking with his Aunt Hannah.

 

Even with the serendipity of the new life Ben now experiences, there are bumps in the road. Ben is constantly flummoxed by what his urges can be: is he male or is he female, something that can seemingly change on a daily basis. Ben’s first response usually is to revert to his shy and pessimistic personality in contrast to the open and confidence personalities of his friends who are constantly pushing him to come out of his shell and try new things like partying or skating. While these scenes with the teenagers are sometimes a little too vanilla like a situation comedy, Ben’s changing moods does have an impact in his growing relationship with Nathan, to the point that he just wants to scream, literally. In its overall vision, this film isn’t meant to focus on the often portrayed conflict between the gay community and people with anti-gay religious views. This is touched on again in a brief scene when Ben’s biological parents meet up with Ben and encourage him to return home. Unfortunately their plan is to send Ben to one of those deprogramming camps, something quickly nixed by Ben and his support group of friends and alternative family members who move to formally adopt him. Instead, the film is meant to show how under the right circumstances, a non-binary person can learn to deal with their inner problems and thrive if they are given the right kind of support and guidance.

 

Ben and Nathan in a intimate moment at the beach.

 

I Wish You All the Best is the work of writer/director Tommy Dorfman who transitioned at age 28. A mostly pleasant film like this is something that was really needed in the discussion. If you look at the IMDb user ratings for this film the ratings are mostly 1 or 10, obviously dependent upon your view of the topic. But the average person really has very little knowledge of what it is like to be non-binary. This film is educational in that area. By deliberately avoiding a focus on conflict, hate or misunderstanding, it shows how a non-binary person can eventually succeed in a supportive environment that requires them to be honest about themselves and learn to interact with the outside world. And yes they deserve some happiness in their lives and do greatly appreciate seeing someone that they can identify with on screen. The acting performance of Corey Fogelmanis was especially good at demonstrating this transition. His body language was very nuanced in showing how he moved from an introverted, clenched look to someone who can walk upright and face the world with a smile. Kudos also to Miles Gutierrez-Riley who played Nathan and to Lena Dunham, Ben's supportive art teacher. The film is currently available for streaming on Prime Video.

Best Chucks Scene

 

Ben dancing down the street in a dress free of all inhibitions.

 

Corey Fogelmanis (Ben) wears black high top chucks in most of the scenes in the film. Chucks are a good fit for Ben because they are already a unisex sneaker and fit in with whatever side of his personality expresses itself on any given day. Ben likes to wear chucks with white crew socks and blue jeans or shorts much of the time. There is chucks friendly cinematography throughout the film. But the best scene is at the end of the film where we see a sequence of Ben dancing down a neighborhood street wearing a long sleeved gray tee shirt, a green tie dye skirt, and his black high top chucks with white crew socks seemingly without any inhibitions.

 

Ben dancing down the street shot 2.

Support the film industry by purchasing genuine DVD, Blue Ray, or streaming copies of these films. Illegal copies only help profiteers. Make sure your money goes to the producers and artists who actually create these films. Still images from the film are used here as teasers to get you to view an authorized copy. If you have information about a film where a main character wears chucks, contact us at films@chucksconnection.com.

Purchase chucks, shoelaces, and books about chucks.
High Tops	Low Tops	Shoelaces Page	Books