Starring
Rami Malek, DJ Qualls, Kate Lyn Sheil, Sukha Belle Potter, Lin Shaye,
Toby Huss, Sandra Ellis, Nicholas Pryor. Directed by Sarah Adrina
Smith. (2016, 98 min).
Mal
heart indeed...
Buster
(Rami Malek) is a scraggly, long-haired vagrant who survives in the
Montana wilderness by squatting in unoccupied cabins, eating the
owners' food, turning all the family photos
upside-down and occasionally phoning talk show hosts to scream
about some apocalyptic "inversion," which will apparently
be triggered by Y2K. He also often finds himself adrift in a raft in
the middle of the ocean, though it's never quite clear whether or not
he's actually stranded.
Before
all this, Buster was Jonah, a loving husband with an adorable
daughter. However, life isn't turning out quite as he expected. Stuck
with a job he hates - the night-shift concierge of a hotel - and
living with his in-laws, Jonah is miserable and consistently
exhausted. Then a stranger (DJ Qualls) arrives at the hotel one
night. He has no ID and refuses to give his name, but claims to be
privy to some sort of massive technological catastrophe and this
knowledge makes him a target. However, he could simply be a paranoid
conspiracy theorist, or perhaps just a figment of Jonah's
imagination.
 |
| "I did use exact change...where are my goddamn Skittles?" |
Throughout
much of Buster's Mal Heart, the audience is uncertain what's
real and what isn't, whether or not we can trust what Jonah sees,
says and does. Not only that, the narrative keeps us questioning the
chronology of most of these events. The only thing the audience
becomes certain of is Jonah/Buster isn't playing with a full deck;
there may even be something awful lurking behind those sunken eyes.
All
that's left to learn is how and why he ends up adrift. The film is
slow to reveal any answers, and when it does, the revelations are
generally ambiguous, which is obviously writer/director Sarah Adina
Smith's agenda. Like Donnie Darko, Buster's Mal Heart
revels in surreal narrative and imagery, some of which is intriguing,
other times ponderous. Malek, however, delivers a terrifically
laconic performance that's note-perfect for the material.
The
whole "what is reality" concept has been done more
effectively in other films, but Buster's Mal Heart
isn't without its merits. For the most part, we're intrigued enough
to see it through to the end, even if our patience is occasionally
tested and not every question is answered. The film may not be warrant
repeated viewings (it is awfully depressing at times), but is
certainly worth a few hours one evening.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
DELETED
SCENES
TRAILER
KITTY CONSENSUS:
NOT BAD...LIKE CAT CHOW
No comments:
Post a Comment