By: Henry J. Fromage –
This week’s New York business trip coincided with the Tribeca Film Festival, which ate into sleep time, but sleep is for the dead.
374. Tow
Rose Byrne nabs a starring role in this true story of a Seattle woman who’s currently living in her car while looking for work. When it is stolen, then recovered, it seems as if she dodged a bullet, but when she arrives to claim it she learns she’s been hit with a steep towing fee despite it not being her fault (stolen and all). This kicks off a long and epic legal battle with the tow company and a simultaneous spiral as the small amount of control she exerted over her circumstances evaporates and she’s forced to depend on the help of others. Rather star-studded, and absolutely heart-warming, even as it skews a bit conventional stylistically. Three Beers.
375. Sovereign
Nick Offerman stars in another story ripped from the headlines- much more tragic ones, as he plays a “Sovereign”, a man who’s spun a web of questionable logic and true grievances into the belief that he’s an independent entity above whatever laws he deems himself to be. His son (an excellent and startlingly tall Jacob Tremblay) has his doubts, but as their fight with the bank holding their mortgage spirals and Offerman becomes even more unstable, a path to tragedy is set. Christian Swegal shows serious directorial chops here. Two Beers.
376. Babytooth
This enjoyable short film prefaced the next feature below, and was tonally and stylistically a great fit. It’s a, well, short story, in which a young woman vociferously selling and old boat (and trailer!) clashes with an older man who is at first bemused and then later actively disturbed by her behavior and insistence he yank out the tooth she has a string wrapped around. Strange yet thoroughly entertaining. Two Beers.
377. The Trainer
Speaking of strange yet thoroughly entertaining, iconoclast director Tony Kaye (you’ll likely best know him from American History X and his clashes with Ed Norton on final cut of that film) gets back in the director’s chair with this absolutely gonzo story of a personal trainer and momma’s boy who will stop at nothing to sell his game-changing invention- a “heavy hat” for promoting neck and full body strength and stuff. The amount of recognizable faces that cameo in this thing is staggering, and the Tiktok-derived in your face style literally never lets up, but it’s Vito Schnabel’s sadsack performance that holds the center. Cult film material without a doubt. Three Beers.
378. Everything’s Going to be Great
Bryan Cranston and Allison Janney star here as a married couple who run a smalltime theater troupe, who get an opportunity that may be the pathway to the bigtime. Their football and girl-loving older son is not having it, but their younger one is truly a chip off of the thespian block. Yes, this is a dramatic and at times even maudlin film, but the actors all embody their characters beautifully and the story takes some turns you won’t see coming. Three Beers.
379. Twelve Moons
This is the kind of film you’ll find at festivals the world over. Headlined by a recognizable face (here Ana de la Reguera), it’s an artsy film with sumptuous black and white visuals and too opaque of a plot for too long. It eventually emerges she’s a bit of an addict, and her struggle to reach sobriety despite her unsupportive partners (in both love and business) is the focus of the 12 moons and 12 steps it’ll take for her to get there. Four Beers.
380. In Cold Light
Maika Monroe gets to headline a bit of a different kind of genre film here as a woman who’s just gotten out of prison for drug dealing to find a home she doesn’t exactly like. Her twin and former partner in crime brother is welcoming, but her roughshod former bullrider father (Troy Kotsur, welcome as always) is not so much, blaming her for her choices that led to prison and it turns out for the death of her mother when she was a child. When a shocking act of violence occurs, she ends up on the run for her life, but she’s resourceful as hell and gives none enough fucks to be truly dangerous. A taut little thriller set in an interesting environment. Two Beers.
