| B | Fantastic Fest 2024 |
This was another movie I had to think through to decide if I liked it or not…
Corey Feldman did a fine job portraying an odd and frustrating (but empathetic) character—the very definition of “nebbish.” But halfway through, the film takes a complete left turn and becomes something very different (not divulged by the trailer, but “spoiled” pretty much everywhere else you read about it). At this point it becomes chaotic and hard to follow (intentionally), with a strange but satisfying ending.
Along the way, the technical aspects of the film are darn good. There was a definite visual style throughout. And there is a long sequence in the second half that is quite annoying (again, intentionally, to reflect what the main character is dealing with) but technically skilled, and forcing you to really pay attention to the background to follow what is happening.
Memorable line: “I feel like the wrong corpse at the wrong funeral.”
So yeah, there’s enough to like about the movie to recommend a watch, if you’re at all curious.
This film was shown at the very first Fantastic Fest, and tonight was billed as a 20th anniversary screening. (In fact, Drafthouse Films is rereleasing it.) The director and Feldman were in attendance. Feldman was a riot because he was dressed as and behaving as the main character—he did not break character at all during the introduction and the Q&A afterwards.
