October
2
Sundance Leftovers: Ballast and Choke
After the frenetic fest circuit, I've been screening up a storm lately. I finally caught up with a couple of pics I missed in Sundance and Toronto:
Ballast: Sundance critics raved about this small-scale indie, which was initially picked up by IFC, but director Lance Hammer decided to self-release the pic. Beautifully framed and shot in North Carolina, the drama explores the aftermath of a suicide on a dysfunctional, poverty-stricken extended family who painstakingly figure out that they need each other to survive. But the actors, while authentic, are extremely inexpressive, which flattens the experience. The movie opened in NYC October 1, and will hit L.A. on November 7. Here's Manohla Dargis's review. And the trailer.
Choke: Greencine rounds up coverage of Choke, adapted by actor-director Clark Gregg from Chuck Palahniuk's novel, which opened this weekend to mixed reviews. Here's a report from the set and Mark Olsen's LAT feature on Gregg, who is funny in a supporting role. This is by far Sam Rockwell's best role to date. He's sometimes willing to make his characters too dark and off-putting. Not so here.
His compulsive sex addict is dealing with his dying, wacky mom (Anjelica Huston) and lusting after every woman in sight except the one he really likes (Kelly Macdonald), and yet he is charming and winning. (Not that we care what they think, but the Two Bens on At the Movies both hated it.) This is the kind of archly comedic movie that could easily lose its bearings and be a disaster. Gregg nails it. But catch Choke soon, it won't be around long.
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Reallly wanted to dig "Choke," but it all seemed too ... precious to me. The wacky day job. The wackier buddy. The button-pushing subplots. And the ending ... unsatisfying and uninvolving. But Rockwell remains one of the industry's most watchable - and engaging - talents, no doubt.
Posted by: Christian Toto | October 03, 2008 at 08:19 AM
Ballast was shot in the Mississippi Delta. Not North Carolina
Posted by: Buddy Sweets | February 17, 2009 at 07:54 PM