The Sky is Everywhere suscribes to the theory that death is the ultimate aphrodisiac. Or, as Lennie Walker (Grace Kaufman) puts it, “The weirdest part of grief … The most inappropriate part is that … all of a sudden, since Bailey died, I can’t stop thinking about just falling into someone’s arms.” I think scriptwriter Jandy Nelson is confusing grief with puberty. I mean, last time I checked, horniness wasn’t one of the five stages of grief.
This, however, doesn’t stop Lennie from dealing with the loss of her sister Bailey (Havana Rose Liu) by turning into kind of a little slut who derives some sort of sick pleasure from stringing two boys along – one of whom is her death sister’s “boyfriend” (he is referred to that way even though, you know) Toby (Pico Alexander), who was going to marry Bailey, and was going to be the father of her unborn child; he drops all these bombs gradually, timing each revelation with such clockwork precision that all that’s missing is a sign saying «[insert big dramatic moment here].»
The by-the-numbers plot also provides Lennie with the obligatory quirky family, including Uncle Big (Jason Segel), a pothead slacker that is way too old to be either, and who “believe[s] in everything”; the latter makes me think the character is not very far removed from the actor – if Segel believed in this script, then there must not be much else that he doesn’t believe in.
Then again, just so we know how much of a free spirit she is, Lennie is prone to hallucinations, so I guess having a chain of text messages magically appear out of thin air isn´t really that far-fetched. Oh, and se has read Wuthering Heights “23 times”, which even Emily Brontë would probably find excessive. Finally, if none of the above gives you a clear idea regarding my feelings towards this movie, let’s just add that the climax involves an emotionally-healing hot-air balloon ride and, as the rule in Ebert’s Little Movie Glossary teaches us, “no good movie has ever featured a hot-air balloon.” The Sky Is Everywhere is not the exception.
