Cast: Cris Lankenau, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Raúl Castillo, Robyn Rikoon,
Aaron Katz’ latest lo-fi slacker movie proves that using inexpensive equipment and cheap locations doesn’t mean you have to make a mumblecore film about angst-ridden teens. Admittedly, the hero (Doug) is a college dropout, intentionally falling short of his potential, who has moved in with his sister back in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. He seems content to spend his days drinking beer and reading Arthur Conan Doyle stories; but his patient sister Gail persuades him to take a night-shift job at an Ice Factory. He meets a suitably ‘real’ friend in Raul, a fellow employee at the factory who seems content with this life of DJing in local bars and earning money shifting ice. When Doug’s ex-girlfriend, Rachel, arrives in town, the scene seems set for a traditional slacker movie about ‘growing up’. But when Rachel disappears from her motel room, Doug, Gail and Raul find themselves embroiled in a sinister mystery that even Sherlock Holmes would have struggled to uncover.
The ‘slack’-er film of the first half hour becomes a taut and suspenseful crime thriller – complete with briefcases full of money, seedy underworlds, dingy motels and screeching SUVs with blacked-out windows. The film perfectly blends film noir conventions (‘femmes fatale’, shadowy figures, etc) with some hysterical insights into the life of a bored ‘twenty-something’ living with his sister in Oregon. I am not usually one for film comparisons, but think ‘Garden State’ meets ‘The Big Sleep’.
The four actors are perfect in their roles. None of them are stand out, award-worthy performances, but they perfectly capture the tight-lipped fun at the heart of the story. In one scene, Doug and Raul try to book a room at Rachel’s motel in order to do some more snooping around – they seem completely unaware of the social taboos surrounding two young men taking a motel room for a few hours, and the scene is all the more hysterical for it. The production design leaves something to be desired, but where the film ditches expensive lighting set-ups, it pastes over the shortfall with charm and wit by the barrel load.
Aaron Katz’ latest lo-fi slacker movie proves that using inexpensive equipment and cheap locations doesn’t mean you have to make a mumblecore film about angst-ridden teens. Admittedly, the hero (Doug) is a college dropout, intentionally falling short of his potential, who has moved in with his sister back in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. He seems content to spend his days drinking beer and reading Arthur Conan Doyle stories; but his patient sister Gail persuades him to take a night-shift job at an Ice Factory. He meets a suitably ‘real’ friend in Raul, a fellow employee at the factory who seems content with this life of DJing in local bars and earning money shifting ice. When Doug’s ex-girlfriend, Rachel, arrives in town, the scene seems set for a traditional slacker movie about ‘growing up’. But when Rachel disappears from her motel room, Doug, Gail and Raul find themselves embroiled in a sinister mystery that even Sherlock Holmes would have struggled to uncover.
The ‘slack’-er film of the first half hour becomes a taut and suspenseful crime thriller – complete with briefcases full of money, seedy underworlds, dingy motels and screeching SUVs with blacked-out windows. The film perfectly blends film noir conventions (‘femmes fatale’, shadowy figures, etc) with some hysterical insights into the life of a bored ‘twenty-something’ living with his sister in Oregon. I am not usually one for film comparisons, but think ‘Garden State’ meets ‘The Big Sleep’.
The four actors are perfect in their roles. None of them are stand out, award-worthy performances, but they perfectly capture the tight-lipped fun at the heart of the story. In one scene, Doug and Raul try to book a room at Rachel’s motel in order to do some more snooping around – they seem completely unaware of the social taboos surrounding two young men taking a motel room for a few hours, and the scene is all the more hysterical for it. The production design leaves something to be desired, but where the film ditches expensive lighting set-ups, it pastes over the shortfall with charm and wit by the barrel load.
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