Scrapper Review: A Fresh Take on Social Realism Is Child's Play for Charlotte Regan

The arrival of Georgie's deadbeat father, Harris Dickinson's bleached blonde Jason, has the immediate effect of clipping his wings. The apple didn't fall too far from the tree as his father can scam and conspire with the best of them, so he can immediately see through maneuvers that might leapfrog the others. In time, however, Jason begins to overtake Ali as the main companion in petty crime. In other words, it's "Paper Moon" for a new millennium.

There is a common wisdom about parents who have young children: they grow up alongside their offspring. Some elements of this carry over into "Scrapper," but Regan quickly moves beyond the obvious. The fact that Georgie and Jason share similarly stunted and muffled maturities isn't an observation the film leans towards - it's an observation it departs from.

Regan may not be taking these characters in particularly surprising directions, but she doesn't really need to either. The film gradually settles from the playful – but still helpful – energy with which it storms out of the portal. While Jason remains tenacious, this time seemingly for good, Georgie is able to anchor herself more firmly to the reality around her. When the need for boundless imagination dries up in "Scrapper", the rich understanding of the characters begins.

Even during the film's rapid 84-minute runtime, Campbell and Dickinson can play plenty of vibrant variations of Georgie and Jason. There's no big transformation in "Scrapper," but each of them grapples with the messiness of human relationships — especially their own — seems no less important. Much of the film's center of gravity lies with Lola Campbell's Georgie, but Regan knows the best way to add empathy and empathy to any moment is simply to cut Harris's incredulous face Dickinson as Jason tries to absorb his daughter's latest whim. In a still burgeoning film acting career, this role is another fantastic addition to Dickinson's lost boys collection.

This dynamic duo helps propel the film through its final phase, where sincerity gives way to occasional outbursts of sentimentality. But Regan even occasionally manages to schmaltzer in subtle, surreptitious nuances. “Scrapper” is exactly the kind of rambling triumph its title suggests. It's not how new the materials are that matters here, but how they are put together with such care and consideration.

/Movie rating: 8 out of 10