Will Poulter Gets His Movie

"It's amazing how much ordinary people can pop onscreen. We spend a lot of time thinking and talking about the screen presence of this or that professional actor, but nonprofessionals also often have a distinct, unstudied vibe. You can sense it in the opening minutes of Adam Meeks's Union County, which features real participants from an adult recovery court in Bellefontaine, Ohio, as they stand before a real drug-court judge and talk about the progress they've made in their ongoing rehab."

"Amazingly, this turns out to be a virtue. Poulter is one of those actors who has stood out in supporting parts for so long that it seems high time he got some meaty lead roles. In Union County, he plays Cody Parsons, a recovering addict who has just entered this rehab program in lieu of prison. His younger, more flamboyant brother, Jack (Noah Centineo), is also in the program and helps Cody get a job working alongside him in a lumber yard."

"Cody is from this area - as we learn soon, the two also have a sister (Emily Meade) nearby, and she's trying to hold down a normal life amid all the dysfunction in her family - but there's an awkwardness to his behavior that makes it feel like he's just now learning how to function properly. With his hangdog face and perpetually watchful eyes, Poulter makes for an ideal outsider: He looks like he's always trying to figure out how the universe works."

Union County opens with real participants from an adult recovery court in Bellefontaine, Ohio, standing before a drug-court judge and describing progress in ongoing rehab. Nonprofessional faces and unpremeditated deliveries create a lived-in authenticity. Will Poulter appears as Cody Parsons, a recovering addict who enters the program instead of prison and takes a lumber-yard job with his younger brother Jack (Noah Centineo). The siblings also have a sister (Emily Meade) nearby, struggling to maintain a normal life amid family dysfunction. Poulter’s deglamorized, watchful performance positions Cody as an outsider who is quietly learning how to function.

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