Southland Tales

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 5/20/08 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

Written and directed by Richard Kelly, Southland Tales is a multi-narrative story set in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles on Fourth of July weekend 2008. The film follows the lives of various characters including an amnesiac action film star, an ex-porn star, and twin brothers as they deal with the bleakness of the world around them. With an all-star cast that includes Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seann William Scott, Mandy Moore, Miranda Richardson, Nora Dunn, Justin Timberlake, Jon Lovitz, John Larroquette, Wallace Shawn, Kevin Smith, Lou Taylor Pucci, Beth Grant, Bai Ling, Will Sasso, Holmes Osborne, Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler, Zelda Rubenstein, Janeane Garafalo, and Christopher Lambert. Southland Tales, despite its concept, is a messy, incoherent, and purely self-indulgent film from Richard Kelly.

It's Fourth of July weekend in 2008 which would mark the third anniversary of the nuclear bombing of a small Texas town that began World War III. With the Patriot Act in full power, gasoline and alternative fuel resources in decline, and America on the verge of chaos. An action film star named Boxer Santaros (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) is in the desert with amnesia as he arrives in California. After being captured, he meets with a former porn star-turned reality TV show host Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar) as the two collaborate on a screenplay. Boxer learns that Krysta is part of a neo-Marxist movement led by her manager Cyndi Pinziki (Nora Dunn) who is trying to combat a Republican Presidential candidate Senator Bobby Frost (Holmes Osbourne) and his wife/head of US-IDent Nana Mae Frost (Miranda Richardson).

Meanwhile, the neo-Marxist movement learns that a scientist Baron Von Westphalen (Wallace Shawn) is trying to create a new source of alternative fuel as he is endorsing Senator Frost. With the war still waging on, Frost hopes to have a Republican victory in California as the neo-Marxists have taken a racist LAPD officer named Roland Tavener (Seann William Scott) hostage while using his twin brother Ronald to impersonate him. Ronald accompanies Boxer, who joins in to research his film role, as the two go into hijinks where a domestic dispute that was supposed to be routine went crazy thanks to a rogue cop named Bart Bookman (Jon Lovitz) who is also a neo-Marxist with his girlfriend Zora Carmichaels (Cheri Oteri). Boxer and Ronald run in fear as Boxer has an encounter with Baron and his cohorts that included his mother (Beth Grant), Dr. Soberin Exx (Curtis Armstrong), Katarina Kuntzler (Zelda Rubenstein), and Serpentine (Bai Ling).

With Pinziki and Frost's advisor Vaughn Smallhouse (John Larroquette) trying to negotiate over terms about the release of a possible sex tape between Boxer and Krysta Now, Boxer's wife Madeline Frost Santaros (Mandy Moore) wants the tape blocked. With Boxer returning to his home, he is now believing that he's Jericho as he's made contact with a woman named Starla Von Luft (Michele Durrett) about his screenplay. Santaros escapes the Frost home to meet with Von Luft as things get crazy when an Iraqi war veteran named Pilot Abilene (Justin Timberlake), high on a new drug, kills her. Ronald Taverner had just escape and learned something powerful is going on with his right hand as did his twin brother as the two try to find each other. Ronald seeks help with a secret arms dealer named Walter Mung (Christopher Lambert) while Roland gets help from a local drug dealer named Martin Kefauver (Lou Taylor Pucci). With Krysta now getting possession of a video tape that could incriminate her, she makes her own deal with Smallhouse as the night approaches for what could be the end of the world. It is there at a party for a new Zeppelin that the Taverner twins and Boxer learned what happened to them a few days ago.

The concept of Southland Tales about the end of the world emerging on a Fourth of July weekend with intertwining storylines, multiple characters, and themes of social and environmental unrest is a very good concept. The problem is that it's a good idea on paper. On film and in script, it's a mess. A bloated mess that has too many characters, too many stories, too many situations, and nothing to gel on. It's clear that there's a conflict between two groups. The problem is that it gets confusing on who is working for the neo-Marxists and who is working for the U.S. government. Some characters start of as neo-Marxists and then become pawns for Frost and company. It becomes confusing.

The script doesn't have a sense of cohesiveness nor any characters with the exception of the Tavener twins and Boxer Santaros, that have any depth or development. Instead, Kelly brings out caricatures of individuals that looks like they've come out of films by David Lynch and Gregg Araki. Kelly's claim that the film is meant to be a satire but there's not much to satirize about except reality TV and pop stardom in the form of Krysta Now. The dialogue is stylized for some characters yet it sounds very ridiculous coming out of the mouths of the actors while what's even worse is the film's voice-over narration from Pilot Abilene. The narration brings nothing but a bunch of strange and inane philosophies while the reading by Justin Timberlake sounds very flat and lifeless. Then there's the story and plot. There's nothing clear in what it's trying to say and though things do clear a bit in the third act that involves time travel as well as motivation for two of its lead characters. There's no payoff even though something happens but what is the aftermath?

If Kelly's demands for the audience to be very attentive to the film in script, then the demand for the film in his direction is too overwhelming. Kelly had intended it to be a much bigger experience that is interactive with the audience that included a graphic novel that preceded the film. The problem is that Kelly is trying to create a film that is strange enough for an art-house film audience while using big stars for a mainstream audience and he succeeds in neither. The problem is that Kelly is too enamored with the film's concept and is convinced that the film should be seen more than once to understand the story. Kelly's demands for an audience is too much for a mainstream audience to handle while an art-house audience are smart enough to know when a film should be seen twice.

Kelly's demands for the audience are marred by his bad choices in the direction. The awkward framing, compositions, and no depth of field for the film's exterior and interior settings really create a film that is messy. Plus, Kelly's knack for bending genres, that worked in his previous film Donnie Darko, fails because he tries to do too much. He tries to make it into a comedy, action, drama, satire, sci-fi, and also, a musical. There's a couple of musical dance numbers where one of them is based on a drug trip where Pilot Abilene is lip-syncing to the Killers' All The Things That I've Done with back-up dancer and it's an extremely baffling scene that really confuses the audience into what they're seeing. While there's a couple of interesting moment in the directing including a tracking shot of the MegaZeppelin scene, the rest of the film falters with inane special effects, chaotic conflicts, and everything else where the result is a bloated mess that doesn't make any sense to its audience.

Cinematographer Steven B. Poster does have some nice coloring but due to Kelly's direction, he is given nothing to do as he's forced to emphasize on lighting style that doesn&#146t have any depth at all. Neither does Sam Bauer's editing that at the film's theatrical 144-minute running time, lags in pacing, tries to go for style, and doesn't add anything to the film other than the fact that more scenes should be cut while its approach in the intertwining stories makes it confusing. Production designer Alec Hammond and set decorator Tracey A. Doyle does an OK job in some of the film's set designs though it's most notable achievement is the pristine look of the MegaZeppelin. Costume designer April Ferry creates interesting costumes for the actresses involved yet the look at times is very cartoonish and lacks any real depth.

Sound designer/editor David Esparza also doesn't do anything brilliant that's expected in a film that bends genre as his work in some of the action sequences are average at best while a scene in a gun battle tends to be very muddled more in part due to the direction. The visual effects by Thomas Tannenberg does have nice touch for its mix of animation and computer graphics in some sequences but the rest of it isn't very good at all, notably the climatic scene along with the MegaZeppelin is poorly made. The film's music by renowned electronic-pop artist Moby is dull at best. Originally supposed to be a collaboration with Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, Moby's score fits in the mood with his ambient setting though the addition of pulsating, techno beats create a sense of distraction and at times, doesn't fit in with the mood of the film.

The soundtrack is a tribute to classic alternative music of the 90s with bands like Radiohead, Jane's Addiction, the Pixies, Blur, Big Head Todd & the Monster, Elbow, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club along with the Killers, Louis Armstrong, Beethoven, Muse, Waylon Jennings, and an original song for Sarah Michelle Gellar's character that's a bad impersonation of Britney Spears music.

The casting by Mary Vernieu and Venus Kanani though is an interesting ensemble. There's very few people to stand out as nearly every actor in this film has little to work on while it's clear that the film features cameos and character actors where sometimes, their appearance or presence tends to be a distraction. Cameos from Kevin Smith as a legless war veteran, singer Rebekah del Rio from Mulholland Dr.as a singer, Janeane Garafalo as a general in the final party scene, Christopher Lambert as an arms dealer in an ice cream truck, Eli Roth as a man killed in a toilet, and Sab Shimono as a Japanese prime minister don't really add anything since they're just cameos. Garafalo's appearance is only brief which suggests her appearance was supposed to be bigger but never made it into the final cut while Smith is barely recognizable in his own role. Comedians Will Sasso as Krysta's bodyguard, Amy Poehler as a poet, and Cheri Oteri as neo-Marxist are very bad with Poehler and Oteri not given anything funny to do with Oteri being way over the top in her role. Jon Lovitz also suffers in his role as rogue cop where he ends up being very silly.

Wood Harris as a famed rapper doesn't make much impression nor does Jill Ritchie as one of Krysta's girlfriends while Mike Nielsen as a government spy isn't memorable at all where he's in the film for one minute and then, he's gone. Michele Durrett also suffers the same fate just as her character was getting a bit interesting despite her own exaggerated performance. Famed character actors Curtis Armstrong, Zelda Rubenstein, and the always enjoyable Beth Grant as the Baron's cohorts are practically wasted since they just show up and say their lines while Bai Ling as Serpentine makes more of an impression that's really more of a distraction than a performance.

Nora Dunn is okay in her role as Cindy Pinziki but her character lacks any real sense of clear motivation while John Larroquette looks bored in his role as Vaughn Smallhouse. Lou Taylor Pucci is also okay in his role as drug dealer talking like a rapper though he does manage to make an impression in the film's climatic scene. Wallace Shawn, a great character actor, sadly doesn't really get to do anything but squirm and act slimy as if that's all he's given to do. Holmes Osbourne also doesn't get anything to do but act awkward and such while Miranda Richardson, sporting a Texan accent, is kind of annoying in the film and doesn't get anything to do than sit, talk in a Texan accent, and watch a lot of TV screens. Mandy Moore gives a flat, uninspiring performance where all she does is nag and be a glorified trophy wife which is sad considering that Moore is more talented than that.

Sarah Michelle Gellar is okay in her role as a former porn star turned entrepreneur though sadly, Gellar doesn't get to do anything but look pretty, act like a dumb blonde, and that's all which is sad considering she's far more talented than that through her work in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The film's most baffling and certainly, the worst performance is Justin Timberlake as a war veteran who likes to get high and shoot people while voicing some of the worst narration ever committed on film.

Seann William Scott, who is known as the obnoxious Stifler in the first three American Pie films, is good in his dual role as twin brothers who hold the key to the conspiracy that the American government is doing. While Scott does get to have a few, funny one-liners, he does manage to show his skills as a dramatic actor in the third act where he gets to do a lot despite what little depth and development his characters had to work with. His performance proves that he can do more than just being Stifler. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is also good as Boxer Santaros and his character alter-ego, Jericho Cane (a nod to both Chris Jericho and Kane) where he has this great presence that's expected from an action film star but also a sense of humor in how jittery he is when he's nervous. While the dialogue he's given doesn't work for him, Johnson at least does his best to his charisma and presence to give a good performance to prove that he's more than some big tough guy.

Southland Tales is a tremendously horrific film from Richard Kelly. Despite some of the visuals and the performances of Dwayen Johnson and Seann William Scott. The film doesn't do enough to create a very compelling story that would make sense in favor of style over substance that is unable to live up to the ambitions that Kelly wanted. It's also a film where it tries to hard to do so much and ask a lot from its audience only to either bore or frustrate them in the mess that it is. In the end, Southland Tales is a very shitty film from Richard Kelly who tries too hard and fail.

Richard Kelly Films: Donnie Darko - (The Box (2009 film))

© thevoid99 2014

Fast Food Nation

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 11/26/06 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

Based on the book by Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation is a multi-layered film that explores the world of the fast food industry through the perspectives of different people from fast-food workers, a corporate executive, and a group of Mexican immigrants. Directed by Richard Linklater and written by Linklater and Schlosser, the film takes Schlosser's non-fiction book into a dramatic context to showcase a dark world of the industry that is about profit no matter at the cost. Starring longtime Linklater regular Ethan Hawke along with Greg Kinnear, Patricia Arquette, Ashley Johnson, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Wilmer Valderrama, Ana Claudia Talancon, Lou Taylor Pucci, Paul Dano, Mitch Baker, Luis Guzman, Bobby Cannavale, Esai Morales, Kris Kristofferson, Avril Lavigne, and Bruce Willis. Fast Food Nation is a harrowing, insightful film that uncovers the dark side of the fast food industry.

The film revolves around three different storylines that plays into the world of the fast food industry as marketing executive named Don Anderson (Greg Kinnear) goes to Cody, Colorado to investigate rumors about manure in the meat as he gets a tour of the UMP slaughterhouse and later meets a local rancher in Rudy Martin (Kris Kristofferson) where he and his maid (Raquel Giva) reveal the dark secrets about the UMP slaughterhouse. The other storyline revolves around a group of Mexican immigrants in Raul (Wilmer Valderrama), his girlfriend Sylvia (Catalina Sandino Moreno), and their friend Coco (Ana Claudia Talancon) who arrive to Cody with the help of Benny (Luis Guzman) as Raul and Coco work at the UMP slaughterhouse where Coco has an affair with its plant manager Mike (Bobby Cannavale). The third story line plays into a fast food employee named Amber (Ashley Johnson) who becomes uncomfortable about working at Mickey's as advice from her uncle Pete (Ethan Hawke) has her trying to rebel against corporations with help of an activist named Paco (Lou Taylor Pucci). Eventually, the three storylines would have some resolutions though they don't really crisscross with one another but would unveil a lot of troubling cynicism that plays into the fast food industry.

What Richard Linklater and Eric Schlosser reveal is very complex where it goes to the treatment of immigrants to what goes on behind the food that consumers are eating. While the film isn't perfect, it reveals a lot, even to some graphic detail of how the meat is made from cattle where the objective is to make the audience think while being uncomfortable at the same time. While Linklater takes a documentary-like approach to the film in his observant direction, the approach he and Schlosser takes is in the form of a docu-drama where three different stories are told. While the stories do intertwine with everything, the script is a bit uneven at times though wonderfully structured with the first act being the arrival of the immigrants and Anderson's investigation with the second going further to what Anderson discovers and Sylvia's moral judgement. Then comes the third act that does make things a bit uneasy with Amber joining a revolutionary group and the grim reality Sylvia has to face.

Despite the flaws with the script, Linklater's direction remains strong in how he observes the behaviors while finding a bit of humor in the workplace. While Linklater isn't exactly trying to make audiences think twice about eating fast food but he does raise question of where the food is coming from. More importantly, he reveals more of the corporate cover-ups in which Anderson is forced to think about his job and livelihood to the point that he goes into some moral judgement. The story of the immigrants is handled with realism as well as cynicism about the how untrue the American dream is where Sylvia is the observant character of the film where she tries to do honest work while realizing a lot of the bad things that goes on at the UMP plant. It's by far the most compelling story of the film while the Amber story is a bit weak though Linklater reveals the cynicism that comes afterwards where the film's ending is very bleak.

Helping Linklater in his visual presentation is longtime cinematographer Lee Daniel whose grainy, cinema verite style gives the film a documentary like feel to convey the atmosphere from the polished look of the Californian offices of Mickey to the vast, open spaces and claustrophobic worlds of Cody, Colorado. Longtime editor Sandra Adair does some wonderful cutting on shifting through the segments while making them intertwine with story while giving the pacing a leisurely feel in its 116-minute running time. Production designer Bruce Curtis and art director Joaquin A. Morin did excellent work on the design and look of the Mickey's franchise while costume designer Kari Perkins also does a great job in the look of the Mickey's uniform. Sound editors Michael J. Benavente and Tricia Linklater also do excellent work on creating the atmosphere of the surroundings the characters are in. Friends of Daniel Martinez create a varied mix of music filled with acoustic, Mexican-style music and droning, atmospheric rock to convey the sense of bleakness in the film.

The film's cast is diverse with a lot of actors that include such noted small performances from Mitch Baker, Frank Ertl, Raquel Giva, Armando Hernandez, Hugo Perez, Aaron Himelstein, and Cherami Leigh. Minor roles from the likes of Lou Taylor Pucci, Paul Dano, Esai Morales, and Luis Guzman are excellent. One minor performance that comes across as very annoying is Avril Lavigne as a college protester which is very grating and over-the-top. Another performance that doesn't work is Wilmer Valderrama who whenever he tries to talk, he ends up putting the same kind of Fez that people often sees in his role as Fez in That's 70s Show. Valderrama is not an actor and the casting people should've gotten someone else. Ana Claudia Talancon is excellent as the naive, flirtatious Coco who descends to the world of drugs while Bobby Cannavale is great as the evil, manipulative supervisor. Kris Kristofferson is wonderful as the gruff, cautious rancher who reveals a lot of the dark secrets behind the UMP slaughterhouse while Bruce Willis is great in the one scene he's in as the cynical, corporate supervisor who tells Don Anderson the way the world works.

Patricia Arquette is excellent in her small role as Amber's fun, caring mother who is unaware of what her town is becoming. Ethan Hawke is great in his small role as Amber's radical, political uncle who reveals what happens to local business when they're taken over by corporations. Ashley Johnson is great as Amber who realizes the dark side of the fast food industry and tries to become a revolutionary only to see the grim realities that comes with them. Greg Kinnear gives another fine performance following this year's Little Miss Sunshine as a corporate executive who faces some truths and is forced to go into a moral dilemma that would cost his livelihood while thinking about the customers he's marketing towards. Catalina Sandino Moreno, who is known for her debut performance in Maria Full of Grace, proves that her Oscar nomination was no fluke as she gives the most chilling and moralistic performance of the film. Moreno's proves to be the most heartbreaking in how she tries to do an honest day's work, dealing with the way things are to the people she knows, and how she is forced to face the grim reality that is America. It's really an amazingly powerful performance from the young actress.

While not as entertaining or accessible as Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me or as fulfilling as the other films Richard Linklater did, Fast Food Nation is still a strong, engaging portrait of the American fast food industry. While fans of Linklater will enjoy the dialogue-driven conversations and cinema verite approach, some audiences might be disgusted in some of the graphic imagery as well as some of the things the film is talking about. While it will raise more question about the industry and how it takes care of its customers, it's likely whether or not it will keep people away from fast food or be aware of the changes in the corporate world. Still, Fast Food Nation succeeds in what it aims to do as it's one of the year's most politically-engaging films.

Richard Linklater Films: It’s Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books - Slacker - Dazed & Confused - Before Sunrise - subUrbia - The Newton Boys - Waking Life - Tape - School of Rock - Before Sunset - Bad News Bears (2005 film) - A Scanner Darkly - Me and Orson Welles - Bernie (2011 film) - Before Midnight - Boyhood - Everybody Want Some! - The Auteurs #57: Richard Linklater Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2013

Jack & Diane

Written and directed by Bradley Rust Gray, Jack & Diane is the story about two teenage girls who fall in love with each other as their romance intensify until one of them has to move away leading to all sorts of issues. The film is an exploration into young love as well as its complexities at such a young age. Starring Juno Temple, Riley Keough, Dane DeHann, Cara Seymour, Haviland Morris, and Kylie Minogue. Jack & Diane is an interesting but very messy film from Bradley Rust Gray.

After losing her cell phone, Diane (Juno Temple) wanders around Brooklyn trying to make a phone call as she enters a store where she meets a tomboy named Jack (Riley Keough). The two eventually go to a club where they kiss for the first time as their relationship starts to blossom. When Diane’s aunt Linda (Cara Seymour) finds out about the relationship, she isn’t happy as she revealed to Jack that Diane is leaving for Paris in two-weeks to attend school there. Jack is devastated where the two briefly break up until Jack learns something about Diane’s twin sister Karen. The two reunite as Jack and Diane spend their time together before Diane leaves for Paris where eventually, the two would make an encounter with strange things around them.

The film is essentially a love story between two teenage girls in Brooklyn where they spend their summer being together as one of them is set to leave for Paris to attend school there. Meanwhile, there’s some strange things happening as one of the girls has been having nosebleeds as she’s been going into some weird transformations that would shock both of them. While the premise is interesting, the screenplay ends up being meandering in terms of its plot schematics where it’s not sure where to go or what to do. There’s also some awkward writing in the dialogue while there’s also a lot of strange sub-stories regarding some things inside Diane’s body that would eventually be unveiled in the third act.

Bradley Rust Gray’s direction has some engaging moments in the way he builds up the relationship between Jack and Diane with some interesting shots as well as shooting it on location in Brooklyn. Yet, Gray seems unsure in what kind of film he wants to make where the screenplay really doesn’t do much to make the relationship more intriguing as the film progresses. Throughout the film, there’s these strange animated inserts by the Brothers Quay that establishes a lot of the things that’s happening to Diane. By the time the film reaches its third act, things start to drag when it comes to the eventual reveal about Diane and Jack’s encounter with it as it leads to very over-drawn moments concerning the film’s ending. Overall, Gray creates a film that had an interesting idea but falls flat in its inability to define itself as what kind of film it wants to be.

Cinematographer Anne Misawa does nice work with the photography from the wonderful look of the Brooklyn exterior settings to the array of lights at the club Jack and Diane attend. Editors Bradley Rust Gray and So Yong Kim do terrific work with the editing to capture the intensity of the relationship through some stylish cuts along with fade-outs for the transitions. Production designer Chris Trujillo and art director Matt Marks do some good work with the set pieces such as Diane‘s room as well as the club she and Jack go to. Costume designer Audrey Louise Reynolds does excellent work with the costumes from the tomboyish look of Jack to the more colorful clothing of Diane.

The creature design by Gabe Bartalos is quite good for its sense of horror although it just adds to the confusing nature of the film. The animation by the Quay Brothers is a highlight for the way it looks though the inserts they put in doesn‘t really seem to help out the film‘s narrative. Sound designer Kent Sparling does superb work with the sound from the way the music is heard on location to the atmosphere of the locations the characters encounter at. The music by the group mum is a major highlight of the film for its ambient textures and space-like tone to convey the sense of longing between the two protagonists. Music supervisor Rachel Fox creates a wonderful soundtrack that features music by Jonsi, Shellac, the Dillinger Escape Plan, some electronic music, and a great cover of Yazoo’s Only You by the Flying Pickets.

The casting by Sig de Miguel and Stephen Vincent is stellar as it features some cameo appearances from pop queen Kylie Minogue as a tattooed lesbian that Jack hangs out with, Lou Taylor Pucci as a guy in a web video, Haviland Morris as Jack’s mom, and Dane DeHaan as Jack’s co-worker Chris. Cara Seymour is good as Diane’s aunt Linda though it’s a character that doesn’t get much to do. Finally, there’s the duo of Riley Keough and Juno Temple in their respective roles as Jack and Diane. Keough brings a restrained yet calm performance as the tomboyish Jack as she tries to figure out about Diane. Temple is more outgoing as Diane as well as the way she goes into awkward moments as their performances are a real highlight of the film despite its weak script.

Jack & Diane is a really underwhelming film from Bradley Rust Gray despite the lead performances of Juno Temple and Riley Keough as well as terrific film soundtrack. It’s a film that really has no idea what it wants to be where it ends up meandering throughout and leading the film to drag at times. In the end, Jack & Diane is a terribly incomprehensible film from Bradley Rust Gray.

© thevoid99 2012

Thumbsucker

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 2/20/06 w/ Additional Edits.

Being young and in a dysfunctional family is hard, even when trying to grow up is hard. In the book called Thumbsucker by novelist Walter Kirn tells the story of a young boy who has troubles trying to grow up and still sucks his thumb. After getting into various treatments and getting into all kinds of things, the boy's emotional troubles only worsen in this coming-of-age tale. Adapted to a script and directed by acclaimed music video director Mike Mills (not the bass player of R.E.M. of the same name), Thumbsucker goes into the world of teen angst and all the troubles of trying to fit in and everything while dealing with all the problems growing up has. Starring Lou Taylor Pucci, Tilda Swinton, Vincent D'Onofrio, Kelli Garner, Benjamin Bratt, Vince Vaughn, and Keanu Reeves. Thumbsucker is a funny yet poignant film about all the troubles of growing up.

For Justin Cobb (Lou Taylor Pucci), his life is always trouble since he can't seem to stop sucking his thumb. His thumb-sucking annoys his father Mike (Vincent D'Onofrio) while his mother Audrey (Tilda Swinton) is also concerned. Yet, none of them can escape their dull life in suburbia with the youngest son in the clan, Joel (Chase Offerle). Justin though, remains tormented by his life in high school and often has trouble trying to get things in his debate team class taught by Mr. Geary (Vince Vaughn). The only person Justin can talk to from the team is Rebecca (Kelli Garner) who often asks Justin on why he acts weird. At home, Mike runs a sporting goods store while Audrey is a nurse who hopes to win a contest to meet her favorite TV actor Matt Schramm (Benjamin Bratt). The only other person Justin can talk to is his new-age orthodontist Perry Lyman (Keanu Reeves) who is aware that Justin still sucks his thumb.

Often trying to find time to suck his thumb, Perry notices that if Justin was ever going to get on with his life, he has to let go of his thumb. In an attempt to try to help Justin, he does hypnosis in order to make his stop his thumb and think of other things. The hypnosis seems to work whenever Justin sucks his thumb and it tastes bad but the end result only makes Justin's behavior more erratic to the point that Rebecca notices and leaves the debate team. After trying to get revenge on Perry during a bike race, Justin gets arrested where Mr. Geary and a counselor notices that Justin suffers from ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) as they hope to cure him with Ritalin. Justin's parents aren't sure if it will work but when Justin does take Ritalin, he immediately becomes a debate team wizard.

Though the feeling of confidence comes, Justin's behavior becomes even stranger as he begins to take more Ritalin and his aggressive debating skills only troubles Mr. Geary. Even when Justin and his teammates (whom all 3 are girls) try to have fun, Geary isn't fond of the change in Justin. After a big victory, Justin's aggressive behavior takes its toll on the family as once his Ritalin addiction is exposed and when his father decides to show up to see him debate. The result is a disaster as Mike tries to comfort him only to be rejected while Audrey, who had been seeing his debate matches, had taken a job working in a rehab center that is filled with celebrities. After quitting the debate team, Justin turns to Rebecca for help in smoking dope and discovering sex but when that doesn't work out. Justin has troubles finding answers while he suspects his mother of having an affair with Matt Schramm, who is at the rehab place while finding out about his father's pain in his life after being a football star. Justin wonders about everything while finding out all the answers from the most unlikely of places and people.

The theme of this film along with a lot of films that came out in 2005 is connection, especially through troubling circumstances. In the case for Thumbsucker, it's about a young kid who has troubles in trying to get himself fixed to become a better person yet couldn't deal with all of the bad things around him. His family is very dysfunctional where his mother wants to live a fantasy and his father trying to achieve a final goal that he didn't get as a high school football star where it leaves his younger, frustrated brother to be the normal one. It's a film where people try to find answers into better themselves only to realize that they're not always there and that some people only set themselves up for disappointments in the way Geary and Perry would see. Even in Justin's relationship with Rebecca, it's very complicated since Rebecca is trying to discover the world of sex only to confuse Justin even more in what her intentions her.

The film is wonderfully directed by Mike Mills in how he observes all the things that goes around in Justin's world. From his visits with Perry about all the things that troubles his life to how he becomes desperate to be accepted only to have it fall apart in his face. Mills direction is excellent in the way he observes Justin's behavior while the script is filled with wonderful development where all the major characters in the film have depth into what they bring into the world, especially Justin. While the film is mostly a drama, it does have its moments of humor in several scenes where it comes off naturally and not in a farcical way that some films try to do. Then there's the subject of thumb-sucking which is really a metaphor in the way that the Ritalin and dope-smoking would get to. It really represents an emotional crutch of a kid where whenever he's is pushed or just feeling very anxious in a bad way.

A film similar to that context on a different scale is Steven Shainberg's 2002 film Secretary where Maggie Gyllenhaal's character cuts herself only to see if she exists only to find a new alternative as a submissive in a sadomasochistic relationship with her boss. Really in many ways, this film is about trying to find things to hold on to while dealing with all the bad things in the world.

Helping Mills in the visual department is cinematographer Joaquin Baca-Asay is wonderful for its use of color and to convey the dreamy yet ominous mood that Justin goes through as Baca-Asay's cinematography is wonderful. Production designer Judy Becker and art director Walter Cahall do great work in the look of the houses and places that Justin is surrounded by. Especially since Becker's work is filled with odd things in the homes like in Perry's office early in the film, wolves and stuff that brings a lot of humor to the look of the film. Costume designer April Napier also brings a quirkiness to the film, especially in a scene where Tilda Swinton wears these quirky designer dresses to try and look impressive for Benjamin Bratt. The film in its 96-minute running time is paced leisurely while editors Angus Wall and Haines Hall bring great style to the film's presentation to Mills' perspective directing and some jump-cuts to convey the erratic behavior of Justin.

The film's soundtrack which is supervised by Brian Reitzell is filled with dreamy, atmospheric stuff that helps the convey the troubling mood of the protagonist while the film's original music is done by Tim DeLaughter and his band, the Polyphonic Spree. The music of the Polyphonic Spree is wonderful with its lyrics that are uplifting and melancholic that provides the crutch of Justin's emotional struggle as DeLaughter and company do great work. Also added in the soundtrack is some music from the late Elliott Smith who brings in some great covers of Cat Stevens' Trouble and innocent Big Star ballad Thirteen that rings true to the characters who are all growing up.

The film's cast is wonderful which includes some nice small performances from Sarah Bing, Echo Brooks, and Olivia D. Brown as Justin's debate teammates and a wonderful minor performance from Chase Offerle as Justin's young, obnoxious 10-year old brother who becomes frustrated over his brother's weirdness and the family dynamics as he struggles to get some attention. In another hilarious small role, Benjamin Bratt is excellent as Audrey's favorite actor Matt Schramm whose presence as this bland, pretty-boy actor is a wonderful parody only to have more complexity in a meeting between him and Justin where Bratt reveals his humorous side. Vince Vaughn is also funny as Mr. Geary whose tactics to help rile up his students ability to win are fun to watch while Vaughn also shows his more mature side when he sees Justin go into darker behaviors. Kelli Garner, who filled in for Scarlett Johansson at the last minute, does a wonderful job in playing Justin's girlfriend who is looking to understand his behavior only to reveal her true intentions. Garner brings a lot of edge and a natural quality to her role where if the part still went for Johansson, nothing new would've come but Garner brings the right tone for her character who later becomes a stoner.

Of the entire supporting cast, no one brings more surprises or laughs better than Keanu Reeves in his most offbeat performance to date as new-age orthodontist Perry Lyman. Reeves brings the right kind of humor and idiosyncracies to play this new-age guy who tries to help Justin only to change completely as does Justin where he tries to find new answers as his character is a bit parallel to Justin. During their meeting when Justin is now a debate wizard, Reeves brings a hilarious blandness and shock to see Justin's new change where Reeves brings some real depth. Vincent D'Onofrio is also wonderful as Justin's father Mike who hides a deep sense of shame as he tries to hide himself through work and when he finally takes notice of Justin's accomplishments, he tries to be a real father. D'Onofrio brings all kinds of complexity and pain that a father goes through as he and Pucci have great scenes together. Tilda Swinton is also great as Justin's quirky, fantasy-living mother who seems to be the only parent early who wants to connect with Justin. Then when she takes a great job, her character changes as she becomes unaware of her own role as she tries all she can to help Justin and her family.

Finally, we have Lou Taylor Pucci in a performance that can truly described as one of the best performances of the year. With his previous film credit in a small but memorable role in Rebecca Miller's Personal Velocity, Pucci is by far one of the best young actors to emerge as he takes his first starring role as a kid who has trouble dealing with the world and looking for something to hold on to. Pucci brings a complex, layered performance in the film as he struggles to find himself as early on, we see Pucci bring every amount of sympathy to this kid only to not like him as much when he goes on Ritalin. It's a very powerful performance as Lou Taylor Pucci who is a true talent on the big screen.

The Sony Classics Region 1 DVD that presents the film in a 2.35:1 anamorphic wide-screen format is wonderful in its transfer, even as it sounds good in its 5.1 Dolby Digital for English and Dolby Surround for French with French subtitles available. The special features include several trailers for films like Junebug, 2046, Breakfast on Pluto,, London, Saint Ralph, The Tenants, and Memory of a Killer which are all released from Sony Classics. The other features include a 20-minute behind the scenes documentary where writer/director Mike Mills, novelist Walter Kirn, and most of the film's cast talk about the movie and the idea of thumbsucking. Kelli Garner reveals the preparation she took into learning about the things discussed in the debate team while Pucci talks about a lot of the angst that goes on through. Tilda Swinton, who is one of the executive producers, reveal how the story affected her since she admits to her own awkwardness as young woman. Another feature that appears in a DVD-rom is a director's blog from Mike Mills that reveals notes on the film's premiere and promotion along with his artwork that he reveals.

The 40-minute conversation between Mills and novelist Walter Kirn is interesting for those wanting to know the comparison between the book and film yet the 40-minute running time does take too long. Mike Mills' feature-length audio commentary on the film brings some wonderful insight into his approach and how he and the cast basically improvised while remaining true to the novel and some of its lines. Mills fonds over Pucci's performance and the rest of the cast while talking about how he did the film in an almost chronological order which is rarely done in most film productions. Mills also talks about how the story he felt related to him and the influence of Hal Ashby that was his true inspiration for the film. Mills also talked about how originally, the late Elliott Smith was going to score the entire film with nothing but covers but never happened when he died. Mills also gives a final comment about his meeting with Ang Lee who gives him some poignant advice as Mills calls Lee's 1997 film The Ice Storm one of his favorites.

Overall, Thumbsucker is an amazing, funny, and dramatic debut feature from Mike Mills led by the amazing Lou Taylor Pucci in his first leading performance. With a great supporting cast and a wonderful crew plus music from the Polyphonic Spree and the late Elliott Smith. Thumbsucker is the kind of movie that kids who don't fit in will seem to love and cherish. Even those who hated the typical high school films would've wished that this film was made when they were in high school. Thanks to Mike Mills' talent in directing and Lou Taylor Pucci's performance, Thumbsucker is surely a film to seek out.

Mike Mills Films: (The Paperboys) - Beginners - 20th Century Women

© thevoid99 2012

Personal Velocity: Three Portraits

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 10/12/04 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

Written and directed by Rebecca Miller, that is based on her novel, Personal Velocity: Three Portraits is the story of three different women in three different parts of their lives as they each explore their own idea of womanhood. Narrated by John Ventimiglia, the film explores these three different stories that each follow three different women struggling to find their roles in life. Starring Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey, and Fairuza Balk in the three stories along with Ron Liebman, Leo Fitzpatrick, Seth Gilliam, Wallace Shawn, and Patti D'Arbanville. Personal Velocity: Three Portraits is an exhilarating yet mesmerizing film from Rebecca Miller.

Delia (Kyra Sedgwick) is a housewife to her abusive husband Kurt (David Warshofsky) while raising three kids in John (Nick Clubber), May (Nicole Murphy), and Claire (Sarah Morf). Though Delia's life was an extraordinary one as a teenager where she had the reputation of controlling her sexuality while living with her hippie father (Brian Tarantina). All of that changed when she married Kurt as their marriage turned sour as he would start to abuse her. Deciding to leave Kurt and take the children with her, they drive around upstate New York to seek shelter as Delia reconnects with her old friend Fay (Mara Hobel). Despite getting a job as a waitress and gaining the attraction of the cook's son Mylert (Leo Fitzpatrick), Delia still tries to deal with her new role as well as her relationship with Kurt.

Greta (Parker Posey) is a cookbook editor who is asked by her editor (Mr. Gelb) Wallace Shawn) to edit an upcoming novel for acclaimed writer Thavi (Joel de la Fuente) as Greta sees this as a big moment for her to be successful. The new job has Greta hoping to gain the approval of her big-shot attorney father Avram Herskovitz (Ron Liebman) whom she had a testy relationship with. Attending a party with her husband/New York Times editor Lee (Tim Guinee) and their freind Oscar (Josh Phillip Weinstein), Oscar is surprised by her news though Greta becomes confused by this new success. Notably as she has feelings for Thavi, that reminds her about an affair she had with a guy named Max (Ben Shankman), while pondering if she can succeed on her own terms.

Paula (Fairuza Balk) has just witnessed a murder of a Norwegian man she just met as she flees from that and her own tumultuous relationship with Vincent (Seth Gilliam). Driving towards upstate New York, she picks up a young runaway named Kevin (Lou Taylor Pucci) as she stops at the home of her mother Celia (Patti D'Abranville) whom she hadn't seen in years. Still reeling from the way that relationship got fractured, Paula recalls what happened when she ran away from home and later met Vincent as Celia makes an attempt to reconnect. After calling Vincent, Paula feels lost as she also tries to deal with this young runaway she's starting to care for.

While episodic films in recent years haven't been done lately and sometimes, there would be stories that would end up overshadowing one another or everything else in the movie. Miller however, managed to figure out everything since all three stories are different yet are filled with similar themes and character backgrounds while a subplot involving the murder Paula was involved is actually heard in TV or radio in the stories of Delia and Greta. Miller as a writer manages to find a narrative where all three stories can come together without any sense of inconsistency or even in its non-linear approaches to the stories of its protagonists.

The directing style Miller presented isn&'t just fascinating in its digital photography but there would be use of stop-motion camera frame shots, slow, fast-motion styles, and how everything moves with just a small camera. It's a film that has its own style while remaining true to Miller's carefully structured screenplay. Helping Miller with that vision is cinematographer Ellen Kuras who brings a dreamy, video-transfer style in night scenes involving Delia's road trip away from Kurt while presenting different tones for each characters. While Paula's story has a bit of a grainy, dreamy feel, Greta has a more polished yet still digital video style with wonderful camera framework while Delia's story is set in a more monochrome like style. The credit really goes to Miller and Kuras for presenting a movie that has a distinctive visual look.

With additional credit going to production designer Judy Becker for the film's look of Upstate New York and NYC and editor Sabine Hoffman for giving each story a 25-30 minute time frame. The film also has a wonderful, melancholy film score from Michael Rohatyn for giving the movie an electronic, sparkling synthesizer track that shows the women moving in their in own worlds while there's different types of music in the background including a country song that accompanies Delia's rural background.

The film's supporting cast is very spot-on with Seth Gilliam, David Warshofsky, and Tim Guinee in the respective roles of the men the women are with where Gilliam plays the frustrated boyfriend, Warshofsky as the abusive husband, and Guinee as the aloof one. Even the role of parents from Brian Tarantina, Ron Liebman, and Patti D'Arbanville are well written in the small time they're given with each, a different subtext to their performances in their failures to communicate with their children. While the film's supporting cast is small, there are some great performances from Mara Hobel, Leo Fitzpatrick, Wallace Shawn, Joel de la Fuente, Josh Phillip Weinstein, Ben Shankman, and Lou Taylor Pucci all providing strong performances that helps carry the film's story for its protagonist.

There is really no clear winner for who handled the best performance since Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey, and Fairuza Balk all bring in great, complex performances to their respective roles. Balk, who often had played more of the bad girl roles, gives her best performance to date as the clueless, generous runaway Paula with her motherly approach in her scenes with Pucci. Balk also showed a desperate dramatic range in her phone call scene with Gilliam while we see the depths of troubles and her desperation to be loved in a defiant, sympathetic performance. Sedgwick is amazing in the role of Delia as the abused housewife who has enough yet at the same time, it seems like she wants more since she's in love with her husband still. Sedgwick had the more difficult role since her character started off with a sense of power until she got married and as her story develops, we see her regaining some strength yet the physical and mental abuse from her husband is still in tact. This is truly Sedgwick's most powerful performance to date.

Parker Posey gives another great performance in the role of Greta, who is a woman desperate for acceptance from the world yet she's the one character that the most unlikable because of her affairs and desperation to be successful yet there's a sympathy for her because she's trying to win her father's acceptance. Posey had the most accessible role but she made sure it's one women could relate to while we also see a sense of self-loathing right at the end of her story. Truly, this is more of a film of how women are defining themselves in a climate where there are moments of feminism yet there's also sadness behind them. It's really a character-driven story that shows women in different climates trying to ponder their own futures with its three main actress giving spot-on performances.

Personal Velocity: Three Portraits is a marvelous yet enchanting film from Rebecca Miller. Featuring outstanding lead performances from Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey, and Fairuza Balk, it's a truly hypnotic and entrancing film thanks in part to Ellen Kuras' stylish digital photography. It's also a film that really speaks out for women's struggle to find their place in the world told in three different ideas that each share similar themes of individuality. In the end, Personal Velocity: Three Portraits is an extraordinary film from Rebecca Miller.

Rebecca Miller Films: (Angela) - The Ballad of Jack & Rose - The Private Lives of Pippa Lee - Maggie's Plan - Arthur Miller: Writer

© thevoid99 2012

The Go-Getter

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 3/9/09.

Written and directed by Martin Hynes, The Go-Getter tells the story of a 19-year old young man going on a road-trip to find his Latino half-brother to tell him the news that their mother had died. Stealing a stranger's car where he makes contact with its owner, he comes across eccentric people including an old school friend and various other people. Based on Hynes' own road experiences, the film is a part-road movie and part-coming of age film that explores a young man dealing with his mother's death and urging to escape a dull life. Starring Lou Taylor Pucci, Zooey Deschanel, Jena Malone, Judy Greer, Jsu Garcia, William Lee Scott, Bill Duke, and Maura Tierney. The Go-Getter is a wonderful, dreamy road-movie from Martin Hynes.

19-year old Mercer (Lou Taylor Pucci) lives in a dull town of Eugene, Oregon as his mother had just died. He has a Latino half-brother named Arlen (Jsu Garcia) who is 18 years older than him and hadn't seen him since Mercer was five years old. Deciding to steal a stranger's car at a car wash, he goes on the road where he hears a cell phone that belongs to its owner Kate (Zooey Deschanel). Kate contacts him asking why he stole her car as he tells her what he's doing as she asks to maintain contact. Stopping at a Californian hippie commune where he meets Better than Toast (Judy Greer) and her boyfriend Nick (Nick Offerman), he learns that Arlen had left the commune to go to Reno, Nevada. Mercer knows a girl from nearby Fallon, Nevada that he used to go to school with named Joely (Jena Malone).

The seductive Joely joins him on the road to Reno where they embark on some fun times as Mercer has his first ever sexual experience. Hoping to find where Arlen was last seen in Reno, he meets a porno film director (Julio Oscar Mechoso) who reveals to him where Arlen went as Mercer steals a camera that he later hopes to sell for money. When he finds Joely with her cousin Buddy (Colin Fickes) and friend Rid (William Lee Scott), they ask him to drive them to Mojave, California for a racing thing so they can build their own car. Mercer reluctantly does as Joely becomes distracted by her entourage as Mercer learns who Kate is as their conversation becomes more friendly including a dream sequence with him, Kate, and Joely re-enacting the dance scene from Jean-Luc Godard's 1964 film Bande A Parte.

Trying to get his destination, Buddy, Rid, and Joely have other plans forcing Mercer to hitchhike where he gets picked up by a driver (Bill Duke) who picks him up as they tell each other stories about brothers as he got help in retrieving Kate's car. Mercer continues his trek to Sacramento as he continually talks to Kate until he mentions Joely. Stopping in Sacramento to meet a pet store owner (Maura Tierney) that Arlen worked for, he learns Arlen isn't there as she asks Mercer to be part of a children's band that she is leading for her probation involving a crime that Arlen got her in trouble with. Suddenly, Kate makes an appearance to retrieve her car as she joins him on the road where he learns about Arlen's most recent whereabouts. Realizing he's in Mexico, Mercer ponders what to say as he meets his half-brother for the first time in more than 14 years.

The plot of the film is simple yet really it's about a young man coming of age with help from this young woman whose car he stole. Yet, it's really about two people looking for ways to escape from their dull life as a character like Mercer feels stuck in his hometown with nothing to do after his mother's death. Yet, he feels the need to tell his half-brother, whom he never really knew, about their mom's death. For Kate, contacting Mercer gives her the chance to connect with someone as she needs a form of escape from her own life. Though writer-director Martin Hynes doesn't bring a lot of plot or story to the film, it's really about experiences that are truly magical. Through his dreamy, evocative direction, the film moves along as he takes the audience on a journey that is magical yet exciting. The directing is truly exciting in its locations of the American west as it's a compelling yet wondrous road movie.

Cinematographer Byron Shah does spectacular work with the film's dream-like cinematography from the colorful, rainy look of Oregon to the sunny world of California. The look of each location is distinctive where Reno is more colorful with its nighttime lights and sepia-interior looks while the film has a black-and-white moment in its tribute to the Bande a Parte scene. Editor David Birdsell does excellent work with the editing to create rhythmic jump-cuts for several of the film's road scenes as well as other sequences for quick-cuts that is energetic but doesn't move to fast. At the same time, Birdsell sells the action with slow motion edits for a dream-like feel for some of the phone conversations that Mercer is having with Kate.

Production designer Damon Fortier along with art directors Rob Howeth and Charles Nance do fine work with the look of the hippie commune that Mercer visits along with some locations including the places he goes to. Costume designer Marie Schely does fantastic work with the costumes including the cowboy hats that Lou Taylor Pucci and Bill Duke wears along with band uniforms and the clothes Jena Malone wears to make her look like a sex pot. Sound editor Mitch Gettleman does great work in capturing the sound locations including the phone conversations between Mercer and Kate along with the tape that Mercer listens to on the car.

The film's music mostly consists of songs by M. Ward that definitely works as road material along with music from the Replacements, Animal Collective, the Black Keys, and the late Elliot Smith. The soundtrack includes a duet with M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel on a cover of Richard Thompson's When I Get To The Border that would be the basis for the Ward-Deschanel project She & Him.

The casting by Emily Schweber is excellent with appearances from M. Ward along with Nick Offerman as a potter who hates Arlen and Judy Greer as a hippie chick. Appearances from Bill Duke as a liquor supplier who helps Mercer retrieve his car and Maura Tierney as a pet store owner are memorable for their cameos along with Julio Oscar Mechoso as a porn director under the name a late, famous film director. Jsu Garcia is fine as Mercer's half-brother Arlen while Colin Fickes and William Lee Scott are good as Joely's troublesome entourage. In a role that's definitely against type of sorts, Jena Malone is great as the seductive Joely who uses her womanly ways to get Mercer to do anything. Though she doesn't have the look of a sex object, Malone definitely sells herself as a manipulative young woman while proving that she can be sexy with a nice little butt-crack. Mmmmmm....

Zooey Deschanel is excellent as Kate, a quirky young woman who lets Mercer take her car while engaging into fruitful conversations about anything while appearing to him in dreams as a companion until she comes along for real. Deschanel is truly mesmerizing in her appearance as she and Lou Taylor Pucci have great chemistry while maintaining her dream-like persona. Finally, there's Lou Taylor Pucci in what is an amazing performance from the young actor. Following his superb breakthrough role in 2005's Thumbsucker, Pucci is proving to be one of the best young actors working while not giving in towards Hollywood convention. Pucci's naive, wondrous performance as a young man trying to find his long-lost half-brother is filled with realism and imagination as it's a wonderful performance from Pucci who has great rapport with his co-stars while making Mercer into a relatable character.

The Go-Getter is an excellent film from Martin Hynes featuring some great work from Lou Taylor Pucci, Zooey Deschanel, and Jena Malone. Fans of these actors will no doubt enjoy their performances along with the music of M. Ward while fans of quirky, dreamy indie road movies will find something wonderful to look at. Though it doesn't have a strong plot and a quirkiness that might not be for everyone. It's still a compelling, fascinating film that has something to offer. In the end, for a road film that is beautiful along with a story about an experience that is unforgettable, The Go-Getter is the film to see.

(C) thevoid99 2011