Cast: Anton Yelchin, Jodie Foster, Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pine

Director: Garret Price

Review:

Well folks, get ready to cry.  Love, Antosha has to be one of the saddest and most emotionally invested documentaries of the year.  You don’t have to know a lot about Anton Yelchin to know that he died in a freak accident at a young age and he was on the path to be one of the most prolific actors of his generation.  While it’s always sad when someone dies unexpectedly, I think it hurts a little more when they have all the potential in the world to make a difference with their lives.  Brilliantly detailing the life of a loved and talented young man, Love, Antosha emerges as one of the year’s top documentaries and adds another element to the treasured life of Anton Yelchin.

The film documents the life of Anton Yelchin.  From a young boy obsessed with Space Jam, to an up-and-coming actor balancing his passions, relationships, and cystic fibrosis, Love, Antosha goes into heavy detail over area what was important to Anton and includes interviews from both his family members and those that worked with him on set for the course of the 92 minute runtime.  When we look over the life of Anton, it’s amazing to see just how much he was able to accomplish in 27 years he was alive. He was able to identify skills and themes in his craft that very few people can especially at his young age.  Watching Anton be able to pick up the meaning and themes of movies like Taxi Driver as a young teenager shows that even before he was famous he knew he had to be immersed in whatever he was doing and could figure out the value of movies before he was probably supposed to.  This intelligence spans way past his passion for movies as evident by one of Chris Pine’s interviews.  Pine stated that while Anton was on the set of one of the Star Trek movies, Anton used to translate Russian philosophy to English in his spare time.  For someone to be ability to understand obscure philosophy in their own language is impressive enough, let alone translating it to a second language and it really shows just how amazing Anton was.  While all of these achievements are impressive, the personal moments between Anton and his mother are what really drive the movie home.  Between her support for him with both his passions and his sickness, to the loving notes that he would write her everyday when he was home, you can tell just how important these two were in their lives and just how much it hurts to lose Anton in such a freakish way.  That love is what really propels the movie and makes it stand out as such an incredible movie.  Every person who knew him, worked with him, and dated him loved him almost unconditionally and this movie shows the devastation they felt now that he’s no longer with us.  Love, Antosha can be seen as one of the more difficult documentaries to watch because of how personal it is, but as a celebration of Anton’s life, there couldn’t have been a better way to do so.

Overall, I’ve always been a casual fan of Anton, but after watching this movie I’m devastated by the supreme talent that we lost too soon.  Even though his time was cut short, he lived a full life and everyone who’s ever interacted with him is better off having him as a part of their lives.  As long as these memories exist and people can carry on how they feel about him, then Anton will never truly be dead.

Overall Score: 8.5/10