All tagged Indie
Heart is an undervalued commodity in filmmaking. Big films try to sneak it in, like they do humor and romance, but it always comes off as sloppy and insincere. In John Krasinski’s second directorial effort The Hollars, heart is the base of this small yet thoughtful indie.
The film touches on many themes, the central one being desperation. Each wants to leave town, start a new life, and be bigger than their claimed identities. When they’re not together it’s intensely depressing, and as an audience member you’re constantly gripped by panic and subtle strains of hope.
Field’s performance as Doris is simply joyful. She is a woman who is beginning again, blissfully innocent to the world around her, and yet she has suffered for decades, as she gave up her life to take care of her mother.
At the beginning this is actually a pretty enjoyable film, what with the main roles being filled by up and comer John Magaro, the odiously villainous Christopher McDonald, and one of my favorite character actresses, Dreama Walker.
It kind of makes sense that CK would try to release it in this way. “Horace and Pete” is an unexplainable creation that has little mass appeal. You can’t really create a succinct trailer that truly gets at the meat of the story and unearths the strange and pointedly dark characters that the show dissects with clinical ease.
There are five writers on this film (including “George Lucas in Love” director Joe Nussbaum) and honestly it feels like it. There is so much testosterone in this film that there isn’t much room for dealing with actual emotions, or the complexities of being a teenager in a man’s body
Solondz films don’t show winners. They show people who deserve far worse than they’re getting, or people who are so devastatingly wrong in every aspect of their lives that it’s embarrassing to watch them just live them.
Playing opposite her is the equally talented Sam Rockwell, who is undercutting his trademark majesty with a role as a burbling, manic depressive hit man; who works under a moral code to only kill those who have hired him to kill. Somewhat out of the blue he decides that he fancies Kendrick, and she him, and they wander around New Orleans becoming best buddies.
The tone of the show is much in keeping with his films, just shortened down from ninety minutes to thirty. The exact same style of filmmaking is utilized for the show, so it comes off feeling attuned to the actors that Swanberg chooses.
Though there are some stark moments among the pretentious drivel, this is the worst example of the mumblecore movement I’ve seen yet. It reinforces the criticisms of most, as it’s unfocused, monotonous, and slow
Most of the film is truly heartbreaking. Johanna is this solemn, peculiar creature who doesn't seem to have anybody but herself. She has morals, dresses austerely, and only wants the love of a good man. She doesn't push or prod either, but gently maneuvers herself into his life and helps him crawl out of the hole he has fallen down.
While the film normalizes these fetishes, it also finds a great amount of humor in them. The film is cut up into the stories of several couples, who each have different fantasies and needs in the bedroom that aren't always satisfied. One couple experiments with role play, but the husband takes it too far when he tries to heighten the tension by making it into an acting exercise.
Prostitutes Sin-Dee and Alexandra (Rodriguez and Taylor) are friends who are catching up on Christmas Eve, the day that Sin-Dee is released from a 28 day stint in prison for possession. She learns that her pimp beau has been cheating on her with a cisgender woman and goes on a tear through LA trying to find him.
Alone and embittered, our main character Will (Clement) has to learn how to balance his new life with raising his twin daughters, having a new relationship with his ex, writing a new novel, and engaging with a literature professor from Columbia who throws him for a loop. Threaded together by Will's drawings, this little indie comedy fuses together the drama of a mixed family, and the absurdity of what life throws at us.
These prominent TV actors actually do show a certain amount of control and craft to their performances, but it's truly the chemistry between the characters that makes this film watchable. Ellis and Coupe are great as two asymmetrical sisters, whose banter make for the best character development of the film, and create an ending that asks bigger questions than most indie films dare ask.
Sam is at a loss at understanding how her life has been unexpectedly changed. At the same time a student of hers learns that she is pregnant, and has to adjust from her previous goal of getting into college, and also raising a child. Both try to understand their limitations and new outlooks on life with the addition of a child.
What we are meant to understand from this film is that if you are in a relationship that started when you were a teenager, it is doomed. Completely and totally. Not only is said relationship doomed, but seriously emotional and ridiculous things will happen if you want to stay in it, like say, you will physically injure one another, fight, or get so drunk you are put in a situation where you might be raped.
Her husband picks up the slack as a stay at home dad (Messina) which puts pressure on their relationship. Their rift and subsequent separation leads Alex into a downward spiral as she tries to balance her family and work life, a new romance, and a flighty sister who arrives to stir up the action. The actress who plays the sister, Katie Nehra, actually co-wrote the screenplay for the film along with Jessica Goldberg and Justin Shilton.
Though Hunt is an admirable professional, she's green when it comes to writing and directing. Her writing, particularly, is trying to prod at a feeling that she simply hasn’t captured. The tired stereotype of the overwrought professional woman is boring and here it's almost nonsensical. The world of writing has yielded some interesting characters in the past, but Hunt's over analytical, pretentious publishing exec never nears the levels of empathetic response that she believes she deserves.
