Flipside

Fantastic... I look at this from a wee bit outside of the shell, but still very clearly.

Make no mistake, though this documentary may be a collection of seemingly random threads, there is a cohesive narrative here. It’s the story of the second coming-of-age, when you start shifting your gaze from the future to the past.

Chris Wilcha’s documentary explores life, love, and art through his connection to a venerable record store.

Every life is a trip, like being on a boat of which you are the captain, the documentary “Flipside” tells us — or, rather, an old man in close-up speaks those words.

Wilcha breezily excavates why life can feel so full of promise while also being frustratingly incomplete. He folds in a message of gratitude that tints this sneakily affecting movie with a forgiving sense of color and light.

Whatever “Flipside” ultimately “means,” it’s ninety minutes well, and often amusingly and movingly, spent.

“Flipside” is catnip, then, for people who suspect that they are failed artists and cowards of convention, though normies should be moved as well by the pall of middle-age that hangs over it. T

The segments blend into something profound, as they deal with life’s choices, the passage of time, finding meaning – all exemplified by the lives of Wilcha’s subjects. ... One of the film’s messages: It’s never too late. That is, until it is.


Easily my favorite film of the week... A documentary about failed endeavors and learning to let go.

A collage of good intentions and good subjects that fell by the wayside, yet still stick in a creative mind, never abandoned, certainly not forgotten... Process is not procrastination, and every second counts (even if it only truly counts decades later).