Austin Film Festival 2019: Day 3
I tried to see five films today, but I scheduled a little aggressively and was only able to make it to four. I sincerely apologize to all of my readers waiting with bated breath to read my thoughts on Last Week at Ed’s, a forty-minute documentary about a closing Hollywood diner. Maybe it’ll get picked up by Netflix next week. Maybe it’ll never be heard from again.
Drowning
Writer and director Melora Walters stars as Rose, a middle-aged woman incapable of dealing with the hole in her life left by her children leaving the house and becoming adults. Rose’s daughter is attending an Ivy League university, and her son is fighting in Iraq. Neither child is happy, and neither wants to speak with her. Rose constantly contemplates her skills as a mother and blames herself for her children’s unhappiness and the danger facing her son.
Walters uses this conceit to analyze depression and how difficult it is for people to pull themselves out of it. Her husband, friends, and therapist give her great advice throughout the film, but she’s unable to accept it and move on with her life. She views her pain as unique, and therefore, no one else can possibly understand her. Anyone who’s dealt with depression can identify with this mindset. The obvious answers may be right in front of you, but you don’t believe they’re applicable to your specific situation. You’d rather just stay here and drown.
DC Noir
DC Noir is a compilation of four short stories written by George Pelecanos, creator of HBO’s The Deuce and a writer on The Wire, about crime in Washington, D.C. Pelecanos focuses mostly on poor urban neighborhoods and gives the audience a sense of what it’s like to be poor and black in the nation’s capitol.
I enjoyed the four shorts, but they all ended just as I was getting into them. Each story is full of compelling characters and interesting plot points, and I think they would all benefit from some additional time to explore the characters in more detail. I’d be interested to see feature-length adaptations of each short or perhaps an anthology series that gives each episode an hour or more to further develop the plot. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or an insult. There are some great ideas in here, but I was left wanting more.
Peace
Peace follows a small group of American soldiers in Italy at the end of World War II. They witness an officer murder an Italian civilian and dwell on the morality of the incident throughout their subsequent mission. Some soldiers wish they had reported the murder and others view it as a necessary casualty of war. Their discussion is interrupted by an elderly Italian man who claims to know the whereabouts of a group of Germans that have yet to surrender. The Italian leads them up a snowy mountain, and well, it’s a war movie, so some war movie shit happens.
This is the worst film I’ve seen at the festival so far, and I really hope it stays that way. It’s poorly written and poorly acted. The film beats its viewers over the head with a blatantly pacifist message and doesn’t trust them with any subtlety whatsoever. I agree with the movie’s pacifist ideals, but I don’t enjoy being spoon-fed morality like a child. Toward the end of the film when the soldiers return to base, one of them literally shouts at the whole camp, “You’re all murderers! I’m gonna report everything!” As an anti-war cinephile, I’m this movie’s target audience, and I couldn’t stand it. It’s an admirable message told extremely poorly.
Red Rover
Red Rover is the story of a lonely man looking for a way out. 33-year-old Damon is renting a basement apartment from his ex-girlfriend and her lover, and he’s just been fired by his sales douchebag boss, who doesn’t understand his value to the company. At the end of his rope, he meets a vivacious musician named Phoebe who’s handing out flyers for a Mars expedition reality show that’s searching the globe for contestants. Mars sounds like the perfect place for Damon to escape his demons, but as Phoebe helps him with his application, he begins to appreciate life on earth.
This film is equal parts charm and cheese. If you’ve ever seen a romantic comedy, you probably know where this is going. I was hoping the film was going to be more of a commentary on loneliness, but it’s really an analysis of break-ups and how to move on from them. Cara Gee lights up the screen as the exuberant Phoebe who sees Damon’s best qualities despite his complete lack of confidence. There is some really cheesy dialogue, and there are way too many hot women attracted to the dopey, nerdy, pudgy lead character, but overall, the charm outweighs the cheese. The rom-com is a dying genre, so if you’re into that sort of thing, this is well worth checking out.
Michael Dixon is covering the Austin Film Festival because he has a crippling movie addiction, and he’d like to share it with you. See the rest of his festival coverage at the links below.
Editor’s note: Movie addiction is highly contagious. Symptoms include watching four movies in a day, writing about those movies at night, and using those activities as an excuse to avoid human interaction. If you or a loved one is experiencing any of these symptoms, please consult a therapist immediately.
2019 Austin Film Festival Preview
Austin Film Festival 2019: Day 1
Austin Film Festival 2019: Day 2
Austin Film Festival 2019: Day 4
Austin Film Festival 2019: Day 6
Austin Film Festival 2019: Day 7
