Uncle Junior

Another movie, like "Manchester by the Sea," featuring a guy performing his uncle duties:

TRUE ADOLESCENTS (2011) (B) - A Mark Duplass film is never a waste of time. Here, the valedictorian of the mumblecore class offers yet another variation on the arrested development of a 30-something manchild, this one with dreams of rock stardom.

This is the debut of writer-director Craig Johnson, who would break through in 2014 with the touching sibling story "The Skeleton Twins," with two other significant talents, Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader. In "True Adolescents," Johnson is in a mind meld with Duplass, the secret ingredient in such films as "The Puffy Chair," "Safety Not Guaranteed," "Your Sister's Sister," and "The One I Love" and TV shows high (HBO's "Togetherness") and low ("The League"). He and his brother, Jay (TV's "Transparent"), were also behind the scenes for "Cyrus," "Jeff, Who Lives at Home," and "The Do-Deca Pentathlon."

Here he plays Sam, earnest front-man of the ordinary rock band The Effort, who has gotten on the last nerve of his beautiful girlfriend and gets kicked out of their place. Without a job, he lands a place to stay with an aunt, Sharon (Melissa Leo), a single mom who has her hands full with teenage son Oliver (Bret Loehr) and his constant companion, Jake (dandelion-haired Carr Thompson). When Oliver's dad bails out of weekend plans for a camping trip, Sam steps in. (He's actually Oliver's cousin, but he has the role of uncle or father figure.)

Sam is not much of a grown-up, badgering the boys with schoolyard put-downs and foisting his music tastes on them via the car stereo. He calls everyone "dude," wears Chuck Taylors instead of hiking boots, and likes to parrot the boys' complaints with a mocking tone and childish face. Duplass is in a zone here. Sam is a passive-aggressive jerk of a friend and relative, barely putting up a brave front to hide his deep insecurities. Beer is his best friend.

Sam is such a loser that it's the boys who have luck with the ladies, meeting a pair of hot-tub hotties and making progress before Sam butts in, thinking he's being funny. Oliver shows flashes of maturity and isn't afraid to call Sam on his shit. Oliver emerges as the alpha male, flaunting his dominance over Jake, a sensitive type (he's currently into classic jazz) who takes offense at the homophobic locker-room slurs and roughhousing but wants to fit in. (Loehr and Thompson are strong throughout as hormonal adolescents.)

The trio finally arrives at the camp site in the film's second half, and when one of the boys goes missing, real life smacks Sam in the face. And just when he finally got a call from an indie label, raising his hopes of a possible record deal. Will he rise to the occasion and sober up and grow up? Will all three make it home safely?

Sam does have a final reckoning with his bandmates, in which he suffers yet another indignity. The movie ends with Sam taking a hard look at himself, and Duplass's face flashes hints of a gush of emotions, ranging from fear to hope. It's a chilling cap to a master-class character study from a fascinating actor.

BONUS TRACK
The peppy song over the opening credits, "Where Eagles Fucking Dare" by the Fucking Eagles: