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TWINGE 2 Stars
1/2
The pitch: A janitor/poet is looking for a relationship.
The janitor meets a woman on the rebound. As their bond strengthens,
janitor is exposed to the various facets of love - adulterous
and sexist - that surround him, but manages to remain confident
that his new love can flourish. He even ponders pursuing his
writing career a little more seriously, with the girl's encouragement,
of course. But when his girl lands a good job in the bulding
where he cleans toilets, all hell breaks loose.
The
goods: The writing is fairly tight, and some of the camera
angles are great. Especially when you take into account that
William Bazyl Dripps made this film in ten and a half days in
Atlanta with almost no budget at all. All in all, this is a pretty
great idea for a film, because behind all the diverse, frivolous
conversations, affairs, and parties lurks a concern on all the
characters' parts with the passing of time, and their fear of
growing old alone. But it's never overblown, so that the fear
really does linger in the background, as it does in their minds
(In that sense, the form and content of the writing meet). The woman (Adele Phares)
is a great actress, as are some of the guy friends (Toy Lavalle in particular) with whom the lead hangs out in his
free time. And there is some very nice anti-chronological editing
along with a neatly random, violent ending that no-one can predict,
but that has nonetheless been there all along right before our
eyes. The damage: The lead actor (Joseph Casterline) is
bad. Really, really bad. A few times I tried to see his choiches
as interesting and even - given the nice, meandering nature of
the film - appropriate. But it doesn't last long, because he's
just bad, and just ab out ruins the movie. I wish that one of
his friends in the film had been cast in his role instead. The
word: See it. It's a neat idea and a well-shot movie. Just
forget about the lead, and support Mediahead - a wonderful company
here in Atlanta that's doing its damnedest for the local filmmakers.
- Conal Byrne
Twinge will be screened
by Mediahead at the Fountainhead Lounge on Dec. 21 at 8 p.m.
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See a few shots of
Toy as Reuban, taken from the movie!