REBEL WITH A CLAUSE (A-minus) - This DIY labor of love is an irresistible testament to a woman who has devoted her life to the parsing of language and grammar and to bringing that knowledge and passion to the masses.
Ellen Jovin travels the country -- with the goal of hitting every state -- and sets up her Grammar Table, inviting conversations about dangling participles and Oxford commas, or whatever is on the minds of the folks who amble by. She is armed with reference books, including a dictionary and the Chicago Manual of Style, as she taps into the hidden grammatical pet peeves of ordinary citizens. (Her own 2022 book of the same title was a best-seller.)
Jovin's husband, Brandt Johnson, is listed as director, producer, cinematographer and editor -- essentially a one man crew. He also appears on camera at times, including during a few dash-cam scenes as the engaging couple banters along the highways. (They also banter in person, as they have been accompanying the film around the country.) Johnson has a sharp eye for clever establishing shots that lighten the mood. This was filmed over the course of more than six years (it was almost derailed by COVID), but it boils down to a seamless and delightful 86 minutes.
The secret here is in the couple's patience (they shot over 400 hours of footage) in capturing interesting bystanders who approach the Grammar Table. One after another is funny, charming, witty and/or emotionally giving. Jovin herself has a magnetic personality and a winning laugh. She is a liberal descriptivist who likes to shatter lazy linguistic myths and slay shibboleths. She is like a priest forgiving the sins of those who are trapped in the lessons of their stuff fifth-grade teacher. Bopping from topic to topic, the film has a high probability of touching on at least one of most people's personal bugbears. (Jovin's detour into pronunciations in particular gets her fans riled up.)
Jovin seems to genuinely believe in face-to-face interactions as the salvation of our society and culture. She seeks connections at her various stops, and some visitors are genuinely moved to have been solicited for their opinions on professorial topics. She finds fellowship at a conference of copy editors, creating a true nerd energy field.
The film strains a tad toward the end with an emphasis on Kumbaya moments, grasping for deep meaning in the big picture. A serendipitous meeting at the end is quite moving. But in the end, it's the joy -- and occasional silliness -- of the whole enterprise that wins you over.
BONUS TRACK
The trailer:
