Reviewed
by Lamar Kukuk
12/5/11
The
absolute best thing you get to do as a film critic (even a self-proclaimed
one such as myself) is to support the work of under-the-radar filmmakers
you admire. The Palace’s first real “discovery” was …Around,
the debut feature by writer/director David Spaltro, a brilliant meditation
on homelessness, the impulse to create that comes from a damaged psyche,
and the malaise of youth fronted by an amazing performance by Rob Evans.
My rave wasn’t enough to push …Around into the
national discussion (it’s available on Amazon, however, and you should
really check it out), but it did allow me to correspond a bit with the
filmmaker and star, and I’ve remained in touch with Spaltro on Facebook
throughout work on his follow-up feature, as I noted a couple months ago
when I saw a rough cut. I’ve
just finished watching the final version of Things I Don’t Understand
and I can now say with certainty what I thought to be the case back then:
this witty, heartfelt dramedy is the best movie I’ve gotten as a screener
in the five years I’ve been doing this. Once again fronted by a captivating
lead performance (by …Around supporting player
Molly Ryman) backed by an equally impressive supporting turn by newcomer
Grace Folsom, Things stands now at a moment of infinite possibilities
because I think it’s the kind of movie the mainstream indie audience would
really embrace if they got a chance to see it. Full disclosure alert:
after offering my thoughts and kicking in a few dollars to the post-production
fund after seeing the rough cut, I do have a “Special Thanks” credit at
the end of the movie, and I’m really proud of that. Things I Don’t
Understand is the kind of movie you really want to be associated with,
be it as a critic, an artist or a fan.
Violet
Kubelick (Molly Ryman) has willingly jumped from the fast track her life
was on: haunted by the death of her sister when she was young, she’s
turned a doctoral thesis on what happens after you die into a slow-rolling
life’s work highlighted by an “experiment” in slitting her own wrists that’s
landed her on the couch of therapist Dr. Blankenship (Lisa Eichhorn).
Violet has taken a minimum wage job in a bookstore she works hard at doing
badly, revels in empty sex, drugs and booze, and enjoys a single island
of contentment: the crummy apartment she shares with two slacker
artists, Remy (Hugo Dillon) and Gabby (Meissa Hampton). While most
of her nightly sexual conquests are men she hates on sight, lately Violet’s
had her eye on Parker (Aaron Mathias) who tends bar below their apartment.
He’s an intriguing puzzle for her inquisitive mind, a very single, very
handsome guy who never takes off a wedding ring and never answers his cell
phone no matter how often it rings. And he becomes even more interesting
when, after a night of bonding conversation, he walks Violet to her door…
and leaves. The roommates are faced with a more pressing dilemma:
the owner of their beloved home is about to sell the building and they’re
out unless they can come up with $20,000.00 in two weeks. All of
which leaves Violet feeling more helpless and adrift than ever, so Dr.
Blankenship sends her to a hospice center to conduct another interview
for her thesis… and meet Sara (Grace Folsom), a dying young woman in need
of a friend in her final days. The next few weeks will change Violet’s
life forever.
For
a movie about a woman tormented by the knowledge that she and everyone
she will ever know is simply going to die, Things I Don’t Understand
is surprisingly full of life. And that starts with Violet herself,
and the tremendous work Ryman does in the role. Yes, she’s self-destructive
and morose, but the girl is also a lot of fun to be around. The actress
really sells us the fact that Violet is both totally committed to her self-imposed
downward spiral and also someone with the tools to pull the nose up:
it’s easy to believe this smart, quick-witted girl could have done anything
she wanted before deciding to devote herself to not making eye contact
with her customers lest they start asking questions. People are always
asking where the great female lead roles are and I think part of that is
that it’s rare to let an actress have the kind of entertainingly snarky
self-loathing male characters often wear as a badge of honor, but Ryman’s
lucky enough to get a part like that here and she really runs with it.
The
movie’s other pillar is Folsom, who could easily have played Sara as a
Sainted Cancer Patient cliché, but doesn’t. Yes, this young
woman has a quick wit and feisty streak of her own, but that doesn’t mean
she’s not lonely and more afraid than she’s willing to admit. While
Folsom is delightful saying all the things a cancer patient isn’t supposed
to say, it’s the vulnerability she brings to Sara and Violet’s conversations
about the road that led her to the hospice and the barely concealed desperation
with which she keeps inquiring if her new friend will be back the next
day that make the performance special. Without giving too much away,
the script throws her a challenging spin on the role late in the game and
she’s very good in her final scenes, particularly the last one.
Another
thing that distinguishes Things I Don’t Understand from most of
the low-budget indies I get in the mail is that the acting is solid across
the board. Yeah, there’s an exception or two in tiny roles and one
extra who made me think “where did they find THAT guy?” but many a Hollywood
flick would kill for the authenticity Spaltro gets out of Dillon and Hampton
in the “quirky artist roommate” roles that so often feel forced, and Mathias
makes a rock-solid man of mystery (aside from one pet peeve: I did
start to wonder after a while why he was the only character in the movie
who never seems cold. Maybe Parker just really knows how to
dress for those New York winters). Eichhorn, the veteran of the cast,
makes a really cool movie shrink, wearing effective kid gloves in her verbal
sparring sessions with her hostile patient. And Eleanor Wilson provides
solid comic relief as an actress friend of Parker’s who’s just a little
too nice.
All
of which makes a solid undercard to the Main Event: once again, Spaltro
has created a central character I really bonded with, taken them on an
emotionally resonant journey and gotten a powerhouse performance in that
role. Things I Don’t Understand takes place in a far sunnier
universe than …Around, one open to the possibility
that things just might turn out better than OK. I think it’s also
a movie more likely to be generally embraced if for no other reason than
that audiences tend to like their indie movies at least as funny as they
are sad. As I publish this review, Things has yet to begin
the film festival odyssey that will ultimately determine its fate, but
let me give it one last encouraging push: give it a chance, I think
you’ll really like it. After all, I certainly didn’t make a contribution
to the post production fund for The Last Airbender. |
