Rating: C+
Dir: Anthony Harrison
Star: Anthony Harrison, C. Ernst Harth, Ellie Harvie, Chilton Crane
This seems heavily inspired by Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. In both, you have a man-child leaving his comfort zone on a mission. He then encounters a slew of wild and wacky characters, in a world that’s like our own, yet also a throwback. But there are differences, both for the better, worse and… Well, I’m still unsure about some. Here, the hero is Joe (Harrison), a physically deformed and mentally challenged individual, who works in a “life skills” program on day release from the Bradeway Institute, which takes care of him. Joe still feels guilt about the disappearance of his sister Grace, who vanished when he was a child, and an insurance flier triggers him to run off in search of her.
His supervisor on the program, Horst (Harth), heads off in pursuit along with a nurse from the institution, Eva (Harvie). They keep getting sidetracked on their search – not least, because Horst is mistaken as an armed robber. Meanwhile Joe had adventures of his own, including unwittingly becoming an actor, and an encounter with an angry, jealous, and knife-wielding boyfriend, on the way to recalling the truth about Grace’s disappearance. This all unfolds in black-and-white (though feels less filmed that way, then someone simply turned colour off), except for animated and/or rotoscoped sequences (top), to provide brief bursts of bright technicolor. It mostly feels like it’s being played for lightly comedic effect, with a jaunty soundtrack.
This is one of the many weird aspects about this, because its tone is all over the place. Not least at the end, where it seems to collapse into uneasy Lynchian density. It does not provide the revelation Harrison seems to think it offers. But even before that point, there’s an almost wilful reluctance to pick an approach and stick with it. For example, the Lynchian inspiration extends to the b&w photography, as well as the lead operating under heavy prosthetic make-up and speaking a minimum of dialogue. These similarities are undermined by the frequent use of sped-up footage, which almost left me feeling like I was experiencing Benny Hill’s remake of The Elephant Man. While I’d certainly watch that, it’s not a project I can imagine achieving critical or popular acclaim.
Yet it’s precisely this aversion to cinematic convention that is its charm. This is “Dance like nobody’s watching” in movie form, Harrison going his own way and making the movie he decided to make. If anyone else wants to get on board the bus, he’ll offer a seat. Just don’t expect him to drive anywhere other than where he wants to go. The destination may not be what you expected, or indeed, somewhere you were interested in going, and the seats aren’t particularly comfy. But the journey will go past some places of interest, and your fellow passengers are a quirky bunch of folk, with whom it’s easy to spend time. Think that’s probably enough transport metaphors.
[The film is available to watch on the Bradeway Pictures YouTube channel]