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Reviews
The Happiness Salesman (2010)
Let Sleeping Devils Lie
What would happen if you could reset your life and do it right this time, living up to your potential. It's a loaded question for many people, including Karen (Archie Panjabi,) a single mom living in the British Suburbs, who is visited one day by a mysterious stranger (Christopher Eccleston, enigmatic like the Doctor but less benevolently so.) The stranger, who introduces himself as a salesman (see, she should have shut the door in his face right then) offers to help her- for a price. Karen, who wants to be a singer, is the mother of a perpetually crying baby, played by Aaryan Pandit (I often wonder, with horror and curiosity in equal measure, how directors make babies cry the way they do- pinch their little baby cheeks? Slap them?,) for who's existence Karen seems to bear slight regret.
I winced every time the baby emitted a high-pitched wail (sue me, I'm not a baby person,) but it would do me not good to see it hurt, but Eccleston may have something far more sinister in mind.
The acting is strong in this suspenseful horror short, which won best narrative short at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. It is somewhat predictable, and I'm not totally keen on the ideology behind the premise, but it's a helluva lot better than many shorts, even some of the one that get nominated for Oscars.
As a side note- the Youtube video quality was questionable, with the sound/visuals out of sinc, causing distraction. If you can find a better version of the film, by all means do, but if not, watch it anyway, it's worth it. And think twice when a salesman barges into your house eager to sell (philfared?) DVDs. Just a thought.
Fight Club (1999)
Hit Me
David Fincher's 1999 adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel, "Fight Club" is visceral, like a punch in the the chest. It is unapologetic, gritty, subversive, and at times blatantly sexual.
And it's funny. It is a story about what happens when a movement that promises freedom becomes more constricting then confirmatory society ever was. Think 'Animal Farm' with abnormal psychology and bloody, bone-crunching fistfights.
The unnamed anti-hero of this film, Narrator (Edward Norton,) is a disturbed office worker who can't sleep at night. His insomnia presents reality as some kind of waking dream. Well, he doesn't look as bad a Christian Bale in "The Machinist," bu he's still pretty rough in appearance, and he can barely work up enough enthusiasm to go to work in the morning.
Because he works repossessing unsafe cars after fatal accidents, he gets to travel a lot, but his life remains at a virtual standstill. All this changes when he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt,) a nihilist rebel who believes humanity should be reduced to it's most primal state.
After Narrator's apartment blows up under suspicious circumstances, he goes to live in Tyler Durden's home, which must of been a beautiful house at one time but is now repellent in it's decay and inefficiency.
Soon, Tyler and his new house-guest start a Fight Club, which temporarily releases men's feelings of inadequacy minus a few teeth, and might seem like a great idea if you're into boxing and WWE.
Add the Borderlinish, suicidal Marla Singer and the men's own twisted psyches, and you've got a recipe for disaster. The first thing that strikes me about this film is the overwhelming loneliness. Narrator is a cynic, so much so that he alienates himself and everyone around him.
"How could Tyler thing it was a bad thing that Marla Singer was about to die?" he muses when Marla swallows a bottle of Xanax and invites Tyler over for a night of lovemaking.
In my 'Favorite Characters" description of Edward Norton's character, I said this- 'like Chuck Palahniuk's character Victor Mancini, the sex addict at the center of the book and film "Choke," 'Narrator' pretends to hold the human race in contempt, but at the same time cries out in pitiful loneliness, "love me, love me, love me!!" I think us cynics can relate.' I think this is pretty accurate.
Although his character is dark-dark, I cannot help but sympathize with his urge to make things right after he finds out the truth about Tyler. This is not a film for everyone. The violence comes in droves, and no character presents themselves as noble. Furthermore, it is not really a realistic presentation of it content, and is more stylish than literal in it's subject matter.
But it makes you think while it entertains you, and I cannot really find any movie to compare it to. It is utterly original. Note- This film is a work of fiction and any decision to partake in an actual Fight Club would be utter stupidity.
Treacle Jr. (2010)
Male Bonding- The Hard Way
No one does slice-of-life drama and acerbic humor like the Brits, and the curiously named "Treacle Jr." showcases this, as well as some damned good acting from the cast, particularly Aidan Gillen ("Queer As Folk," "Game Of Thrones,") as Aidan (it seems kind of cheap when the screenwriters can't come up with their own names, anyone agree?"
Treacle Jr., as it so happens, is a kitten, Aidan is a childlike man in an unhealthy relationship, and Tom (Tom Fisher) steps quite by accident into the situation, in the process of getting out of another.
Unable to bear for another minute the responsibilities of parenthood and Family life, Tom (Fisher) walks out on his wife and baby and, after running out of cash, seeks new means of livelihood on the streets of London.
Inexplicably, he is attacked and injured by a gang of thugs, and while at the police station, he meets Aidan, who is comparing the woman at the front desk's hair to an Irish Setter's in an attempt at flirtation.
Aidan's the kind of guy most people stay away from. He's earnest, hyper, and completely free of any social graces. Aidan's naive and enthusiastic to a fault, but Tom soon discovers he has problems too- namely Linda (Riann Steele,) his 'girlfriend,' a volatile bag of nuts who beats on Aidan, dubs him a 'retard,' and in one painful scene, tries to rape him. She's a barrel of laughs.
People who find this situation unlikely need only think again. What does society think of men who hit women? If Aidan were to so much as take a swing at Linda in self-defense, she'd need only pull a pouty face to the police and Aidan would be sent up to the big house. Maybe it's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's something to think about.
The story chronicles the meeting and eventual friendship between the two men, despite Tom's initial urgent attempts to get away from Aidan, who has the boundless enthusiasm of a horny beagle. Now Aidan, he's an interesting character. Devoid of the marketability of endearing innocents like Forrest Gump, he is good-hearted but entirely oblivious to his effect on people. He was not written to be liked. I liked him.
If this was to be remade in America, there would be some adjustments mad. Linda's race would be changed (she is African-American,) because a cruel black person is against the politically correct agenda we are spoonfed nowadays. The gender roles would be switched, and the movie would become a feminist power flick. But it will not be remade because it was not highly successful, and a good thing, too. "Treacle Jr." intrigues and challenges, doing what British films do the best.