9/9/11

Almost five years ago now, having more of less given up on my dream of making it as a writer, I started this site as a way to be a tiny part of the discussion about the medium I love, the movies.  In those five years, a lot has changed, and while I'm still writing, acting has become my showbiz drug of choice, and I sometimes struggle to find the time to keep the site afloat and ponder why it is that I keep doing so.  A reminder showed up in the mail a couple weeks ago, and I just got a chance to watch it; a screener of a rough cut of Things I Don't Understand, writer/director David Spaltro's follow-up to his 2008 film ...Around, which still ranks as one of the Palace's all-time Indie discoveries.  Though we've never met in person, David and I have stayed in touch on Facebook and the occasional e-mail since I dropped that rave review on his debut feature, and I was excited to get an early look at what he's come up with this time around.  I can proudly report that it's an even better movie, a funny, thoughtful and life-affirming run through seemingly familiar territory made fresh by sharp writing and some really strong performances.

I'll save a full review until I've seen the finished product, but here are the broad strokes:  Things stars Molly Ryman as Violet, a young woman in the grips of the kind of depression no one notices until you've killed yourself, which is exactly what she's tried to do before the film begins.  Hiding in a shiftless routine of a minimum wage retail job and picking up strangers for empty sex, she's about to lose the one thing that makes her feel secure:  an apartment shared with two high-drama artist roommates that's going to be sold along with the building unless they can secure $20,000.00 in two months.  Violet is seeing a psychiatrist (Lisa Eichhorn) who suggests she visit a hospice care center, where she starts interviewing the patients about what happens after you die (supposedly for a thesis, although it's never clear how much that's a legitimate project as opposed to an excuse to pursue a morbid obsession).  One stands out:  Sara (Grace Folsom) is a young dancer with an obscure bone cancer that's cost her a leg.  While she's dealt with the horrors of impending death far better than Violet's dealt with the horrors of life, Sara is very much alone in her room and closes each visit with a thinly veiled plea for another.  As they bond, another new person enters Violet's life:  she tries to pick up Parker (Aaron Mathias), the hunky bartender downstairs, for one night's stand, but despite a clear attraction, he turns her down.  This leads to an ever-so-fragile relationship, but the bartender is very much a damaged soul, and there's a big secret behind his refusal to ever answer his cell phone.

Because indies are about people rather than superpowers, our favorite indie filmmakers are inevitably those whose obsessions most closely mirror our own, and Spaltro's world of depressed artists looking for their place in the world is as psychologically familiar to me as his New York settings differ from my small-town Pennsylvania background.  But unlike ...Around, which was so compelling precisely because it knew just how few easy answers real life holds, Things I Don't Understand is set on the sunnier side of reality, where the pain and damage feel just as legitimate, death is inevitable, but dammit, there's still a chance that a thing or two just might work out the way we wish it would.  There's a certain extra excitement, as someone who's never attended a film festival (fear not, that's on my 2012 To-Do List), to seeing a movie I can really imagine a mass audience connecting with this early in its life cycle.  While the plot synopsis may not put it across, Things is a lot of fun, in large part because Ryman is positively electric in the lead.  This is one of those roles Sandra Bullock always wishes she were playing (check out her filmography if you don't know what I mean by that), the damaged hot chick who's so much fun to be around you don't notice the fact that she can barely stand you and absolutely despises herself, and the Violet she's created is so magnetic it could really be her breakout role if anybody gets to see it.  David's cautioned me a couple times that I wasn't giving Ryman enough credit when I wondered originally if her ...Around performance was a case of an actress creating a memorably awkward character or if he'd simply found a memorably awkward actress and cast her to type, and here she bears him out:  Molly Ryman officially goes on the Palace's list of Favorite Actors You Haven't Heard Of Yet.

The level of acting across the board is very strong for a low-budget indie:  while there are a couple of folks with just a handful of lines who don't quite deliver the goods, the principal roles are all well-played.  Eichorn's a veteran NY actress who's played six different roles on the Law & Order shows, so it's no surprise she makes an effective psychiatrist, sparring gently with her snarkily hostile patient.  Mathias reminded me a lot of veteran TV hunk Paul Johansson, with his romance novel good looks and bruised sincerity.  And Folsom is really wonderful, selling us both the idea that Sara is living life as fully as she can in her final days and the fact that being at peace with your fate doesn't make it any less scary or unfair.  She gets to play both the real Sara and an imaginary version Violet uses as a mental sounding board, and the difference between the two performances gives you a sense of just how good this young actress, making her feature film debut, can be.

I've talked a lot on this site about how it's getting harder and harder for independent voices to break through in a cinematic landscape increasingly dominated by Pre-Existing Properties of all kinds, and Spaltro has made use of the rising online resources that allow one to raise money for independent film production through donations.  He's currently looking for some capital to complete post-production and get Things I Don't Understand ready for the festival circuit, and after seeing it, I was happy to put my money where my mouth is and kick in a few dollars myself (if you're interested in learning more, you can find his Post Production Fund's Indie GoGo page and check out the trailer here).

I've really enjoyed the opportunity to catch a few off-the-beaten-path movies I'd have never otherwise seen while doing this website, and I can pretty much declare Things I Don't Understand to be the best movie I've yet been sent on a screener.  While I can't guarantee that I'll get to them quickly (what with the acting, and the writing, and the 9-to-5 and those Pre-Existing Property movies I've got to write about), I encourage anybody with their own flick to send it my way.  This casual critic thing is a lot of fun, and just might, once in a while, give me a chance to say something in that big ol' movie discussion that nobody else has heard yet.  That much, I do understand.