Ever wondered what Juno MacGuff would be like if she didn't get knocked up by Michael Cera and instead became a psychopathic murderer who is in love with her older brother? No? Well, I didn't either but that's kinda what the main character Izzy is like in the movie "Sick Girl". The film is an extremely low budget flick that made the rounds on the film festivals back in 2006 and garnered a small cult-like buzz in 2007. I had heard alot of interesting things about this movie around the interwebs so I decided to finally check it out. Did I enjoy it? Well....read on to find out.
Leslie Andrews plays Izzy, an emotionally troubled 20-something girl who, after the death of her parents and her older brother leaving for the Marines, has to raise her nine year old brother Kevin pretty much on her own. Through flashbacks, it shows that Izzy has the serious hots for her older brother Rusty, which is a bit unsettling but they don't push the envelope too far or establish that good of a brother/sister relationship to make you care enough or feel too squeamish. This all leads to Izzy developing some pretty whacked out behavior, including the opening killing rampage that has no rhyme or reason to it and is not given a single bit of explaination. I mean, when a crazy chick punches out a nun and pees in her mouth, I want to see some motivation! I laughed my ass off, but come on!
So the plot, or lack thereof, progresses with Izzy kidnapping three schoolyard bullies who torment her brother Kevin. She forces the ringleader of the kids to drown one of them and stab the other. Pretty sick stuff and probably would've hit home if the performances weren't so wooden and amateurish (more on that later). Izzy takes the ringleader back to her barn, where she has a Catholic schoolgirl and some douchebag dude held hostage from the killing rampage at the beginning and proceeds to torture them in various disgusting and cringe-worthy ways.
So speaking of wooden and terrible acting, we have John McGarr (judging by the credits, possibly the brother of writer/director Eben McGarr, which explains alot) in the role of Big Barney, the mechanic with the heart of gold who was a friend of Izzy's father. He tries his best to help raise young Kevin and show him right from wrong in the most cliched of fashions. Every line this guy speaks sounds like he is reading it off a teleprompter with no prior knowledge of the script. He has zero expressions, and his monotonous voice, weighed down by heavy Queens, NY accent, just makes every moment he spends on screen a laugh riot. I could quote every cheesy line he spewed out, but I don't want this review to go on too long. If you needed a reason to check out this movie, this awful performance is one of them.
The other reason is Leslie Andrews' performance as Izzy. As I stated before, she reminded me of a psychotic version of Juno. I couldn't tell if Andrews was a terrible actress and thats why her performance was the way it was, or if she is a great actress, because she pulled off the empty, emotionless, cold and calculating demeanor of Izzy in spades. Even when she was chopping off some guys weiner (seriously, or should I say carving off, with a straight razor, that they painstakingly showed), or violating the Catholic school girl with a home made sex toy (yeah...very disturbing), her demeanor never changed. She was just all evil, and it was quite convincing. I'd like to see more of Leslie Andrews in the future, but her IMDB shows not much happening except for a guest shot on the Eliza Dushku series "Dollhouse".
I'd like to tell you more about this movie, but that's pretty much it. They kind of backload all the gory and disturbing parts to the last ten minutes of the movie, so leading up to that you get a few kills, some violence involving small children, hundreds of awful lines of dialogue and implied incestual sexual tension. Is this movie worth seeing? I dunno, it's hard to say. On one hand, if you like crappy B-movies and independent horror like I do, then you will have a field day with this. If you are turned off by shitty production values and awful performances, you probably won't last ten minutes. Likewise if you are squeamish or easily offended. This is one of those "so bad it's good" type films that you really have to see to believe. I guess I must say if you fall into the above mentioned category you must see it, you won't be disappointed. Me personally I have my fingers crossed, waiting on a sequel...
RATING: 2 OUT OF 4 STARS
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
"Observe and Report" DVD Review
Seth Rogen has been the go-to guy for the past year or two when it comes to comedy films. He broke out big in "Knocked Up", and through his connections with Judd Apatow managed to orchestrate and fast rise, getting two of his own creations ("Pineapple Express" and "Superbad") fast-tracked and turned into immediate hits and modern classics. One of several movies he released this year, "Observe and Report" shows a side of Rogen we have yet to see on a large scale. The film, written and directed by Jody Hill (the man, who along with Danny McBride, brought us the cult classic "The Foot Fist Way") is a dark and no holds barred look at a mentally troubled man who has little grip on reality, a bad support system and delusions of grandeur. A film that easily could have been a trainwreck, Rogen manages to knock one out of the park.
Rogen stars as Ronnie Barnhardt, "head of security" at the local mall. He's a rent-a-cop turned up to 11, enforcing the rules with an iron fist, taking things way too seriously, hurling racist epithets at kiosk workers and threatening to "murder" anyone who crosses him wrong. When a flasher starts terrorizing the mall, and in partiuclar, Brandy (a super sexy Anna Faris), the make-up counter girl and object of Ronnie's lust, Ronnie decides to take things into his own hands, much to the dismay of a police detective (Ray Liotta) and everyone else around him.
Ronnie is the ultimate loser. He lives at home with his alcoholic mother, who he pines for her approval and affection when she could care less. He goes to the shooting range, yet is hesitant at first to actually try to become a police officer when he so desperately tries to emulate one. He is on bi-polar medication, has disturbing dreams and thoughts, and totally misinterprets the way others view him and feel about him. This is played for laughs, and if you have the right sense of humor, it is hilarious. But if you peel back the layers, there is a sadness and disgust to be found about this movie as well.
Aside from a few random sequences, including one in which Ronnie does every drug you could think of over the course of the work day, I think the film works. The writing is solid, the movie moves along at a good pace. I liked the cameo by Danny McBride, who never disappoints, and the restaurant O'Landers in the mall was a nice nod to "The Foot Fist Way". People expecting a typical Apatow-style comedy because Rogen is in the lead will be left scratching their heads. This is a no-holds-barred, abrasive dark comedy that will leave you feeling uncomfortable at times, sorry for Ronnie at others, and in hysterics all the way through. Reccomended if you like movies that stray slightly from the beaten path and offer something a little more rough around the edges than your average run of the mill comedy.
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
Rogen stars as Ronnie Barnhardt, "head of security" at the local mall. He's a rent-a-cop turned up to 11, enforcing the rules with an iron fist, taking things way too seriously, hurling racist epithets at kiosk workers and threatening to "murder" anyone who crosses him wrong. When a flasher starts terrorizing the mall, and in partiuclar, Brandy (a super sexy Anna Faris), the make-up counter girl and object of Ronnie's lust, Ronnie decides to take things into his own hands, much to the dismay of a police detective (Ray Liotta) and everyone else around him.
Ronnie is the ultimate loser. He lives at home with his alcoholic mother, who he pines for her approval and affection when she could care less. He goes to the shooting range, yet is hesitant at first to actually try to become a police officer when he so desperately tries to emulate one. He is on bi-polar medication, has disturbing dreams and thoughts, and totally misinterprets the way others view him and feel about him. This is played for laughs, and if you have the right sense of humor, it is hilarious. But if you peel back the layers, there is a sadness and disgust to be found about this movie as well.
Aside from a few random sequences, including one in which Ronnie does every drug you could think of over the course of the work day, I think the film works. The writing is solid, the movie moves along at a good pace. I liked the cameo by Danny McBride, who never disappoints, and the restaurant O'Landers in the mall was a nice nod to "The Foot Fist Way". People expecting a typical Apatow-style comedy because Rogen is in the lead will be left scratching their heads. This is a no-holds-barred, abrasive dark comedy that will leave you feeling uncomfortable at times, sorry for Ronnie at others, and in hysterics all the way through. Reccomended if you like movies that stray slightly from the beaten path and offer something a little more rough around the edges than your average run of the mill comedy.
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
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