BEFORE: Emile Hirsch carries over again from "Speed Racer". I promise, I'm back on Christmas stuff RIGHT after this, with just two films left in the year. This weekend is going to be all about getting into the Christmas spirit, or at least trying to. I've got one of my famous Christmas music mixes playing as I type this, I went out for drinks with the theater staff on Thursday - that's as close as I'm going to get to an office holiday party this year - and I watched the last hour of "Bad Santa 2" since it was airing last night while I had the TV on.
I didn't send out Christmas cards last year or this year, I also didn't make a new music mix CD for family and friends, I feel a little guilty but November has been very busy for me since taking on the second job. That's when I usually compiled and field-tested my mixes, and I don't know, maybe I'll get back to doing that in the future, but I just haven't been in the mood. I did that for 30 years and I've got plenty of mix CDs to re-listen to, so hopefully others feel the same way, assuming they saved my cassettes and CDs over the years.
Have not done any Christmas shopping either, and it's nearly too late now anyway - we did our shopping between Christmas and New Year's during the pandemic, and honestly, that was easier and stores were less crowded and it made me wonder why everyone doesn't do it that way. Sure, it helps that my family lives in another state and presents are probably going to arrive late no matter what, so sure, I kind of get a pass now. Maybe if I listen to some more music I'll be more motivated - but really, I just want to make our Christmas lasagna and drink some Christmas-themed beer. OH, I also bought eggnog tonight, I found some at a liquor store near where we went out to dinner with a friend, so there's that. It's the kind that already has the alcohol in it, so after I write this review I'll drink some and maybe feel more merry. It's got rum, brandy AND whiskey in it so if that's not merry, I don't know what is.
THE PLOT: Two highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind.
AFTER: This is a strange little film, by that I mean that there's not much too it, it's a simple story that doesn't feel like it's going to go anywhere for the majority of the time, and then when it finally does go somewhere, that's probably not a place you were expecting it to go. Feels a lot like a film festival film, so I wonder if this did well at Sundance or Slamdance or a bunch of quirky festivals. Yes, I'm exactly right, it was nominated for the Audience Award at the SXSW Film Festival, a notorious indie film haven. Also did well at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Sitges International Film Festival in Spain. I've worked on animated films that did well at Sitges. And yes, it also played at Sundance in 2013 - I KNEW IT, I could just sort of FEEL it.
The film opens with a message telling us that 1987 was a particular bad year for wildfires in the state of Texas, and it's a bit hard to see how that plays into the story, unless it means that there were more road crews at work than ever before the following year, not only restoring burned road posts but also re-painting lines and clearing fallen trees and brush to prevent more fires. I guess that makes sense?
Alvin, the older one, runs a two-man road crew and is the kind of guy who took the job to get out of the city and commune with nature, also it sounds like there's a relationship with a woman that is vastly improved by him being somewhere else, if that makes sense. Alvin has hired the younger brother of his wife (or girlfriend) as his second, and if that isn't awkward to begin with, well, just wait. They're different ages so they're at different stages of life, and so maybe that's one reason it's hard for them to find some common ground. Lance, the younger one, finds it harder to focus on the tasks at hand, and spends more time thinking about the upcoming weekend, and how he's going to drive into town and dance and party and maybe get laid.
Well, different strokes for different folks, and Alvin doesn't mind if Lance takes the truck into town, because he's fine camping by himself, sleeping in a hammock and catching fish or small game animals, or just lying in the middle of the road when there's no traffic. He writes letters to his lover about how the time spent outdoors is improving his outlook on life, so we can only wonder what things were like for him in the city. Hey, this was back before Austin was a cool place to live, maybe, so who knows, maybe it was quite boring. I've been all through the major cities in Texas myself, but that was on BBQ-themed vacations, so I can't really say I've held a job there or been bored there. Perhaps for Alvin that was hell.
I do know something about being the older person with younger workmates, since I am the oldest person working at the theater, and usually I'm paired with someone in their thirties or even twenties, so I have to try to relate to them and not just sound like an old fart all the time. My fun stories are all about working on music videos in the late 1980's or my second wedding in 2001, and these people weren't even alive in the 80's and most haven't been married once yet, so I don't really know what they think of me, other than that I've been around and seen some things.
Naturally, Alvin and Lance end up rubbing each other the wrong way - Lance fills in the crossword puzzle in one of Alvin's comic books (unforgivable) and Alvin breaks Lance's new watch (uncalled for) and so before long they're chasing each other around the forest with tools and you wonder if they can ever get back to being friends after all that. Well, you know, drinking together might help, as would finding a common foe to rage against. But then Lance goes through Alvin's letters from home and learns that the relationship with his sister is not great, it's been going downhill for some time, and sure, this explains a lot. However, once the link between the two men is severed, really, all bets are off.
Upon further reflection, perhaps this weird little movie isn't so weird after all - I'm going to have to write my year-end wrap-up post next week and "most weird" is definitely going to be a category, but when you compare this film to "Spaceman", "Beau Is Afraid" "infinity Pool" and "IF", I'm afraid there's really no comparison. So I'm just going to let this one be, leave it alone and let it be whatever it is, it's free to exist in its own little corner of the movie multiverse, because really, what's the harm? Are there lingering questions about the woman whose house burned down, and whether or not she got into the truck driver's truck, hell I'm not even sure if she's real or a figment of Alvin's imagination. I'm just going to smile, nod, and slowly walk away. It's Christmas time and I'm suddenly in a giving mood and I'm not going to tear this one apart. Must be the egg nog.
Also starring Paul Rudd (last seen in "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire"), Lance LeGault (last seen in "Coma"), Joyce Payne, Gina Grande, and the voice of Lynn Shelton (last seen in "Outside In"). .
RATING: 5 out of 10 free-range chickens
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