I picked up this independent film from the library mostly because Troy Garity is in it. I wanted to get a sense of the actor before I saw his performance in Sunshine this weekend. I had low expectations, and the small movie failed to reach them.
The film follows a mentally challenged man as he sifts through lies and truths after his mother dies and two sets of people go after his championship fishing winnings after his controlling mother is killed. It's an interesting premise, but I wasn't aware of this information until I had already started watching the film. I became wary of the possibility for an awkward performance from Garity. After all, it can be a very thin line between authenticity and condescension. Luckily, Garity delivers the strongest performance in the film. Too bad everybody else fails miserably at feining believabilty.
Case in point: Allison Folland as one of the people trying to con Garity's character out of his money. She is always too much - too venomous, too vulnerable, too too. Her performance never stays on any level of authenticity, but rather punches every line and snarl 'til it's dead. She really bothered me. Same goes for her character's brother played by Hank Harris.
The film also has two Academy Award nominees among its ranks. Randy Quaid and Bruce Dern plod through the movie like shaky charactures masquarading as characters you cannot believe as people in that place, time, and situation.
There is an awkwardness to the script that leads me to believe the writer, Richard Murphy spent all his time plotting and no time thinking through dialogue that could naturally flow from well-developed characters.
There is a twist that got me. Like most good twists, the writer and director present you with the necessary information to predict the outcome but disguise it with a lack of importance placed on the deciding details earlier in the script. The old switcheroo always gets me, and it really never should.
I do love the final shot as well. Color against a dull white canvas.
**
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