Showing posts with label max perlich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label max perlich. Show all posts

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Gummo


Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 9/19/07 w/ Additional Edits.



Written and directed by Harmony Korine, Gummo is a film about various lives in a small town in Ohio. Ravaged by a tornado back in 1974, the various people that included oddballs, kids, and other outsiders trying to live their daily lives in this poor, decaying small town. Shot in Nashville, Tennessee as Xenia, Ohio, the film is an unconventional portrait of the lives of various people in this poor small town. With an all-star cast that includes Chloe Sevigny, Jacob Reynolds, Nick Sutton, Jacob Sewell, Darby Dougherty, Carisa Gluckman, Max Perlich, and from Terrence Malick's legendary film Days of Heaven, Linda Manz. Gummo is a harrowing yet powerful film from Harmony Korine.

In the decaying town of Xenia, Ohio where many years ago, a tornado came across the land killing anything in their sight. Now in ruins and with many of residents living in poor neighborhoods, two young boys named Solomon (Jacob Reynolds) and the teenage Tummler (Nick Sutton) are riding through their decayed town looking for stray cats. When they find a black cat, they were about to kill it only to realize it belongs to a little girl named Darby (Darby Dougherty). Darby lives with her older, blonde sisters Dot (Chloe Sevigny) and Helen (Clarisa Gluckman) as they hope to find some decent men in their town by putting electrical tape on their nipples. After killing some cats, Solomon and Tummler give the cats to a supermarket owner named Huntz (Wendell Carr) who gives them a bit of money and glue but also tells them that they have competition.

Another young man killing cats, but with poison, is Jarrod (Daniel Martin) who is doing this to help take care of his dying, catatonic grandmother (Berniece M. Duvall). Meanwhile, Bunny Boy (Jacob Sewell) is also finding dead cats while he also encounter two kids (James Lawhorn and James Glass) as cowboys where he pretends to play dead. Dot, Helen, and Darby meet with their friend Ellen (Ellen M. Smith) as they look at a boy named Eddie (Charles Matthew Coatney) playing tennis as he talks about his newfound concentration thanks to ritalin. Hoping to escape from their current troubles with Jarrod, Solomon and Tummler turn to Cole (Max Perlich) to have sex with his daughter Cassiday (Bernadette Resna) where Tummler talks to Cole about his own frustration with the world.

The next day as Solomon gets ready to kill more cats, he exercises while his mother (Linda Manz) talks about his late father while tap dancing on his old shoes and joking with him with a gun. Tummler's father (James David Glass) also muses on his late wife as he and Tummler have a night of drunken arm wrestling contests and such. After their time with their respective parents, Solomon and Tummler decide to find Jarrod at his home only to have an encounter with Jarrod's comatose grandmother. Dot, Helen, and Darby also suffer when their cat Foot-Foot is gone where they have an encounter with a man named Terry (Jeffrey Baker). With things in Xenia still being the same, no one knows if things will ever change.

While the film has no conventional narrative or a plot with the entire narrative being very lose that includes random scenes involving a midget (Bryant L. Crenshaw), two skinhead brothers (Jason and Casey Guzak), an Albino lady (Donna Brewster), and various people through home video and such. Yet, the film is about environment and how people live in this decay town. While the script seems to be written as sketches or ideas, it's clear that Harmony Korine is trying to make this film as a part-documentary, part drama with a story. While the loose narrative that features narration from Solomon, Tummler, and various people, it's clear that the film reflects the slow, painstaking recovering of this town and how people live through this decay. While audiences might be shocked by the behavior of the character including some of the language, it only confirms the surroundings they're living in.

While the script is loose, Korine's direction is far more compelling with his shaky camera work to convey some sense of action, whether it has the dreamlike quality of Terrence Malick in some sequences to more experimental, cinema verite style where anything goes and he captures these moments. The use of old super 8 footage, video interviews, and everything gives the film a unique look and feel as if it was documentary-like. While the film has a fragmented, episodic-like feel, it manages to work to convey the sense of sadness in all of the characters and their surroundings. Overall, it's Korine and his earnest, eerie direction that manages to be a real high-point for the film.

Cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffer brings a wonderfully enchanting look to the film with its colorful yet grainy-like photography that emphasizes the film's unique look in terms of its beauty mixed in with ugliness. Editor Christopher Tellefsen brings a wonderfully stylized approach to the edits with jump-cuts, slow-motion cuts, and the use of stock footage to bring Korine's vision to life. Production designer David Doernberg and art director Amy Beth Silver bring a wonderful look to some of the homes, notably Solomon's home that is filled with a lot of stuff as if the house hadn't been cleaned including in one scene, bacon taped to a bathroom wall.

Sound designer Steve Borne brings a wonderful approach to the film's sound including the use of distortion for some of the film's music to convey the sense of chaos. Serving as costume designer is none other than Chloe Sevigny who brings a look that is definitely authentic to the film. With t-shirts of metal bands whether its something as extreme as Slayer or something as cheesy as Poison. Even some of the clothes Sevigny and her cast mates would wear would confirm the idea of the environment the characters are living in. The film's soundtrack consists a wide variety of tracks whether its music from a music box, Madonna's Like a Prayer, Roy Orbison's Cryin', or some accordion music. Then the soundtrack would have something as totally extreme as Scandinavian black metal to convey the film's anarchist tone.

The film's cast is definitely unique and memorable for the various segments they're in whether it's people like Jason and Casey Guzak, Lara Tosh as a young girl who finds a lump on her breast, James Lawhorn, James Glass, Wendell Carr, Ellen M. Smith, Charles Matthew Coatney, Daniel Martin, Bernadette Resna, James David Glass, Bryant L. Crenshaw, Berniece M. Duvall, Donna Brewster, Jeffrey Baker, Mark Gonzalez as a chair wrestler, and a cameo from Harmony Korine in a scene with Bryant L. Crenshaw. Though many of those people were non-actors, the performances they give felt real and true to what the film represents.

Other memorable small performances from Darby Dougherty, Carisa Gluckman, and Chloe Sevigny are great with Dougherty having a great scene involving a picture of Burt Reynolds with a mustache while Gluckman and Sevigny bring life to the role of young women trying to find good men in the poor town they're in. Max Perlich as a memorable scene as man who uses his own daughter for prostitution which is very disturbing as Perlich looks nearly unrecognizable in how he tries to please all involved. Linda Manz, in her first film role since the early 80s, gives a very memorable performance despite being in only two scenes. Manz's performance is a reminder of how much she's been missed over the years as she makes a wonderful impression though after this and a few other appearances that included David Fincher's The Game in the late 90s and hasn't done much since.

Despite having no dialogue, Jacob Sewell makes a wonderful impression as the Bunny Boy wearing a bunny hood as he does a lot of things many people wouldn't like, even in the film's opening scenes. Nick Sutton is great as Tummler, who muses on his own life and his own alienation while trying to find things to kill time, even if he has to do something bad. Sutton's performance is very layered and complex to unveil his emotions. Equally as great is Jacob Reynolds as Solomon, who also is trying to understand the world while still maintaining a sense of innocence, even around his mother. It's a fantastic performance in how he observes everything around him including the world around him, particularly through his imaginative narration.

Gummo is a compelling yet enchanting debut feature film from Harmony Korine. Those new to the auteur will no doubt find this film as essential though Kids is the best place to start. Anyone interested in unconventional filmmaking, abstract narratives, and performances that are non-traditional will no doubt enjoy this film. Particularly for its take on poor, Middle-class America. In the end, Gummo is truly one of the 1990s most under-appreciated films from one of cinema's strangest auteurs, Harmony Korine.

Harmony Korine Films: Dogme #6-Julien Donkey Boy - (Mister Lonely) - (Trash Humpers) - Spring Breakers - (The Trap (2016 film))

© thevoid99 2013

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Drugstore Cowboy


Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 11/15/05 w/ Extensive Revisions.


1980s independent American cinema helped open doors for films of all subject matters. One of them was drug abuse were many independent filmmakers took a more realistic, documentary-like perspective into the drug culture. One director in the late 80s went full-on for a dramatic approach in his exploration on drugs and his name was Gus Van Sant. After helming his 1985 debut feature Mala Noche, Van Sant had been hailed as a new visionary yet wasn't ready to move into the Hollywood circuits as he wanted to remain independent in his vision. No matter what subject he wanted tackle, even after a brief stint with Universal that failed. Van Sant moved to Portland, Oregon to create his tale of the drug world with 1989's Drugstore Cowboy.

Based on an unpublished novel by James Fogle, Drugstore Cowboy is a chronicle about four young drug addicts in 1971 Portland who scam their way into stealing pharmaceuticals at drugstores to feed their addiction. While evading a cop and staying at an apartment to plan their next heist, tragedy emerges as their leader tries to stay clean despite his wife's continuing addiction and the world he tries to leave behind. Adapted into a script by Van Sant and Dan Yost, the approach is more cathartic tale of four young, dysfunctional people living as a family while dealing with their addictions. Starring Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, James LeGros, Heather Graham, James Remar, Grace Zabriskie, Max Perlich, and Naked Lunch novelist William S. Burroughs. Drugstore Cowboy is a gritty, off-the-wall masterpiece from Gus Van Sant.

Longtime drug addict Bob (Matt Dillon) has made a career stealing and using pharmaceutical and prescription drugs with help from his wife Diane (Kelly Lynch). With help from a couple of young addicts in Rick (James LeGros) and Nadine (Heather Graham), they have been successful as Nadine fake seizures while the rest steal. Using these drugs for themselves, Bob also tries to deal with a fellow dealer named David (Max Perlich) who is trying to rise up in the game. Bob is also trying to avoid a cop named Gentry (James Remar) who often checks for any of the drugs Bob and his gang has stolen. During a visit to see his mother (Grace Zabriskie), Bob and Diane ponder their own future as they also try to find a new home.

When Nadine asks Bob about getting a dog, Diane reminds her about the superstitions that Bob has where he believes that a dog or a hat on a bed would curse them for some time. After a prank on Gentry during a police assignment, Bob and the gang leave Portland where another heist is foiled by Nadine's clumsiness. Forced to hide out again, Bob finds a drug he had stolen as he makes another attempt at a hospital that was almost successful. The jinx that Bob claims is happening finally hits someone forcing Bob and Diane to leave only to be trapped by a nearby sheriff's convention prompting Bob to go straight.

Returning to Portland, Bob goes into treatment as a counselor (Beah Richards) takes him in where he befriends a former priest named Tom (William S. Burroughs) whom bob knew as a kid. Tom's wisdom prompts Bob to lead a straight life as he gets some unexpected help from Gentry. Yet, Bob's past would come to haunt him as Diane makes a chilling return along with some old adversaries.

Most films about drugs would either glorify or just attack the culture yet in Van Sant's approach, the film is not really about drugs. From his view, it's really about a family and their dysfunctions while feeding their habits in stealing from drug stores. It's also a story about a man who lives a certain lifestyle only that he realizes that it's not cracked up to be only to try and straighten up. The script Van Sant and Dan Yost come up with is excellent for its realism as well as surrealism in Van Sant's direction that includes fantasy backgrounds in whenever Bob is getting high or is feeling elated about something. While the film has a sense of doom in the second act, the third act is where the story shifts into a story where Bob finds himself in a room full of addicts. The conversation is about drugs yet there's no judgement towards them since Van Sant is really viewing them as human beings.

Everything that Van Sant comes up with is very well, even with the ending where in Bob's narration, it has a sense of irony. The narration really brings a perspective in what Van Sant wants to say, especially since it's from the words of James Fogle, the story's original novelist. The narration is unique while the film starts and ends in the same place and same time. The structure is pretty original in how it builds up a story, especially in the death scene where the emotions are mixed on how Bob and his team react. A lot of the credit goes for Van Sant for not glossing anything or being exploitive at the same time.

Helping Van Sant with his outlook and arty visual style is cinematographer Robert Yeomen who brings a dreamy yet gritty look of the film in the exterior scenes in Portland while in the interiors, brings a wonderful intimacy with his lighting and camera work. Production designer David Brisbin and art director Eve Cauley also bring an authenticity to the look of the hotels and homes since the film is set in 1971 along with Beatrix Aruna Pasztor on the costume design, particularly for the clothing of Kelly Lynch and Heather Graham. With wonderful layers of cinematic visuals done by editor Curtiss Clayton, the film has a nice, multi-dimensional look in the dream backgrounds of Bob while it's nicely paced throughout the film. Composer Elliot Goldenthal brings a wonderful score to the film for its dramatic moments and dreamy sequences while the film features a nice soundtrack of late 60s/early 70s music.

Then there's the film's wonderful cast that is filled with realistic and powerful performances including memorable ones from Max Perlich as the naive drug dealer David who gets caught up in his power, Grace Zabriskie as Bob's strict but loving mother, and Beah Richards as a wise drug counselor. The most eerie performance of the entire film is late Beat novelist William S. Burroughs who gained notoriety for his drug novel Naked Lunch. Burroughs gives a mesmerizing and disturbing performance as a former priest who continues to use drugs while providing some strange insight into its culture and roots. James LeGros is excellent in his performance as the doltish but resourceful Rick who manages to find his way and help out Bob while being the only real supporter for his young, naive girlfriend Nadine. James Remar is also brilliant in his role as Gentry, a cop who is willing to do anything to bust Bob. Remar might seem like a villain but he brings a lot more sympathy for Bob in trying to help him straighten out and when Bob does go straight, Remar becomes an unlikely supporter.

The film's most surprising performance goes to a young Heather Graham as the naive, innocent Nadine. With her winning smile and naive behavior, Graham makes herself into a believable character who is new to the game while learning and after a series of screw-ups, Graham takes her character to new dramatic heights as her performance is the film's real breakthrough. Kelly Lynch is also great in her role as Diane, a veteran junkie who is aware of the traps of the game but remains very upbeat on all levels, even as Bob leaves to go straight. There's never a moment in which Lynch gives a dull performance as she graces the screen with her amazing beauty and intelligence.

Then there's Matt Dillon who gives probably the best performance of his career, especially at the time when he had fallen off the radar for a while after his great moment in the early 80s. Dillon brings a lot of complexity and charm to his role as an addict who seems to know everything. Even when it comes to superstitions and how to create a perfect scam and heist. When Dillon goes straight, we see him trying to struggle with his upcoming role only to become content right till the end. This is truly one of the best performances of the decade and a real reason in why Matt Dillon is one great actor.

Drugstore Cowboy is a wonderful yet provocative film from Gus Van Sant that features a great cast and superb imagery. While Van Sant's best work is yet to come with the gay road drama My Own Private Idaho, it's this film that put him into the map of the independent film movement. While more mainstream fans will find this interesting, it's more likely they'll enjoy To Die For and Good Will Hunting more though fans of his recent work will definitely love Drugstore Cowboy. For a film with a lot of grit, surrealism, great performances, and a wonderful style, Drugstore Cowboy is the film to see.


(C) thevoid99 2011

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Beautiful Girls


Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 10/2/03 w/ Additional Edits.


In January of 2002, filmmaker Ted Demme died of a heart attack at age 37. By then, he was already one of the promising filmmakers around with such acclaimed films like The Ref and 2001’s Blow. Demme was also responsible for creating the show Yo! MTV Raps in the late 80s that helped put hip-hop in the mainstream and with filmmaking uncle Jonathan, Ted was a practitioner for music and comedy since he directed comedy specials for Denis Leary and making a hip-hop film Who’s the Man? in 1993. In 1996, Ted Demme released one of his most acclaimed films to date with the nostalgic, buddy-comedy Beautiful Girls.

Beautiful Girls is about a young man in his mid-30s attending a high school reunion in a small town in Massachusetts. With his array of high school buddies, they talk about their relationships with women as well as the trouble around them. While the film recalls elements of the 1983 Lawrence Kasdan film The Big Chill, Beautiful Girls doesn't sway into the nostalgia of that film to encompass a more working class, modern tone to the film. Written by Scott Rosenberg and directed by Ted Demme, Beautiful Girls is a fun, heartwarming comedy with a lot of laughs and a lot of heart.

Willie Conway (Timothy Hutton) is a NYC bar pianist who decides to go to a high school reunion in his small hometown. Willie ponders about  his job as a pianist since he’s done little success and isn’t sure if he wants to get married to his girlfriend Tracy (Annabeth Gish). Once he arrives, he meets up with old pal Michael “Mo” Morris (Noah Emmerich), a family man with loving kids and caring wife Sarah (Anne Bobby).  After some time with Mo, Willie returns home to see his widowed father Dick (Richard Bright) and dim-witted brother Bobby (David Arquette) who are still troubled by the death of Willie's mother. Willie encounters his neighbor, a 13-year old girl named Marty (Natalie Portman) where they struck up a friendship as she wonders about the Conway’s sad household.

Willie also meets up with the rest of his buddies led by snowplow chief Tommy (Matt Dillon), quiet guy Kev (Max Perlich), and loudmouth Paul (Michael Rapaport). Tommy is a former jock who has a loving girlfriend Sharon (Mira Sorvino) while is cheating on her with a married woman named Darian Smalls (Lauren Holly). Paul meanwhile, is having relationship troubles as well as his girlfriend Jan (Martha Plimpton) since he’s suspecting her of sleeping with the meat cutter at her job at a local restaurant. Willie feels happy with his pals since they’re having relationship troubles except for Mo as they often hang out at a bar owned by their pal Stinky (Pruitt Taylor Vince). Paul tries to propose marriage to Jan but it becomes a failure as he suspects her of her affair with meat cutter as their relationship ends. Tommy meanwhile, is having some trouble with his relationships with Sharon and Darian.

Willie befriends Marty as he asks what the kids do nowadays which isn’t much as she is going out with some boy named Andrew.  Willie feels a bit jealous since he finds himself enchanted by Marty. After meeting with Paul in Tommy’s apartment, Willie and Tommy meet up with Sharon’s friend Gina (Rosie O’Donnell) as she talks about what men want from women. During a birthday party for Tommy, Darian makes her presence felt as Sharon learns what is going on and she finds herself being unhappy and breaks up with Tommy. Then one night at Stinky’s, his cousin Andrea (Uma Thurman) visits as the men serenade her with the Neil Diamond classic “Sweet Caroline”. Paul finds himself trying to make moves on Andrea, just to piss off Jan.

Paul nabs a date with Andrea while Willie has an encounter with Marty at a skating rink where Marty tells him that he’s her new boyfriend. Willie likes the idea but is afraid things will change and references Winnie the Pooh about changing as Marty is given time to think about whatever relationship they might have. Tommy meanwhile, is feeling guilt from his breakup with Sharon as he learned what a cold bitch Darian really is as he later gets in trouble with her husband Steve (Sam Robards). Paul's date with Andrea becomes a disaster leading Paul to have a rant about women to Willie the next day.  After a conversation with Andrea, Willie ponders his own relationship issues as Tracy finally arrives where he realize what he wants while wanting to help out his friends with their own issues.

What makes Beautiful Girls such an appealing film is its chemistry with the cast. Ted Demme and screenwriter Scott Rosenberg crafted a story that couples could relate to as well as smart-alecks about men and women. Even as it includes a great monologue about how men are attracted to plastic models by Rosie O'Donnell that is one of the film's highlights. Even as it features commentary on men about their own immaturity. Demme even gives the film a working class tone in its small town as something a bit real with wonderful cinematography from Adam Kimmel and Tony Janelli. The music in the film is also worth noting since it’s soundtrack is very diverse with old-school classics from Neil Diamond, the Rolling Stones, Kiss, Jethro Tull, and Billy Paul to more modern stuff from Afghan Whigs, Pete Drodge, Split Enz, Ween, Morphine, and Chris Issak.

The performances in the film are all top-notch led by the enigmatic Timothy Hutton who leads the film with his masterful portrayal as a man in his mid-30s struggling with his identity with women. Matt Dillon is excellent as the hard-nosed jock Tommy while Noah Emmerich plays the film’s sweet conscious that is well utilized. The smaller male roles of David Arquette, Richard Bright, Max Perlich, Sam Robards, and Pruitt Taylor Vince are also well used while Michael Rapaport steals the show with his comedic rants and one-liners. Bringing the film some balance is the female performances. Mira Sorvino brings a lovely performance as the neglected Sharon while Uma Thurman brings a lovely performance as Stinky’s cousin who plays the men’s attraction but brings brains to the role. Rosie O’Donnell is easily the most hilarious performance of the film since she rants a lot about men and stuff while Lauren Holly is excellent as the cold bitch who really doesn’t know how mean she is to men. The smaller roles of Annabeth Gish, Martha Plimpton, and Anne Bobby standout as well while Natalie Portman brings the film’s best performance as the precocious, innocent Marty, who was named after a grandfather she never knew.

Beautiful Girls is an excellent, heartwarming comedy from the late Ted Demme that shines from its cast and script. Though the film at times has predictable moments, it overcomes that through its humor and chemistry from the cast. Fans of comedy will enjoy the rants of Rapaport and O’Donnell while more dramatic fans will love the performances of Hutton and Portman. The film has something for everyone. Sadly, Ted Demme won’t be making any more films like this but at least he captured something magical with Beautiful Girls.

(C) thevoid99 2010