Jumping from High Places Parent Guide

Sole Santoro (Federica Torchetti) is afraid of everything. The neighbor’s cat. Sharing her art. Finding a job. Getting on a plane. Choosing the “wrong” flavor of ice cream. Her anxiety is mixed with grief for the loss of her best friend, Emma, and this gloomy mix of emotions keeps the 25-year-old trapped in a life of loneliness, lost opportunities, and hopeless dreams.

When Emma’s brother, Massimo (Lorenzo Richelmy), returns to town, the handsome architect brings a letter Emma wrote to Sole before her death. In it, Emma empathizes with Sole’s fears and encourages her to face them. It’s not easy to make the leap, but with the help of friends old and new, Sole makes a list of her phobias and starts the daunting task of overcoming them. Roller coasters, ear piercings, boat rides, art classes …her world begins to open up, but it turns out that the scariest thing is facing her feelings for Massimo.

Romantic comedies are tricky to get right because they rely so much on chemistry. Sadly, the romance here is totally flat, with no sparkle at all. The real energy in the film comes from Sole’s friends, who are kind, patient, encouraging, and non-judgmental. They provide the space and reassurance Sole needs as she takes her faltering steps into the wider world. This might not be much of a romance flick, but it’s a pretty good depiction of the kind of emotional and social support that women obtain from their network of friends. Best of all, the story celebrates failure and setbacks as an important part of overcoming challenges. Sole’s friends and psychologist remind her that progress isn’t linear, and that failure is only temporary. It’s a great message for teen viewers who might be paralyzed with fear as they face their own uncertain futures.

Inspiring themes aside, Jumping from High Places isn’t much of a film. The acting is wooden – and that isn’t helped by the English dub track which is flat and poorly read. (If you don’t mind subtitles, I recommend using them so you can avoid the English voice cast.) It’s possible that the actors are actually brilliant thespians who have been sabotaged by the script, which is gosh-awful and routinely clubs viewers over the head. Sole has the annoying habit of addressing the audience directly to share her perspective. While breaking the fourth wall can add immediacy to a film, this only offers endless amounts of exposition while also breaking up the flow and pacing of the scenes. The writers were clearly unaware of the classic advice “Show; don’t tell” and have chosen to provide almost endless backstory through Sole’s monologues. It’s lazy and frustrating.

If my criticisms don’t deter you, you can be reassured that there is little negative content to be found. There’s some social drinking (and a scene where Sole gets drunk), a very small amount of profanity, and mention that someone’s bisexual. Jumping from High Places might be boring but it’s mostly clean. Thanks to its to-die-for Italian scenery it will have you daydreaming about an Italian vacation – which will probably be more interesting than the story unfolding on the screen.