Three teenagers arrange a date with a woman they’ve found online, on the outskirts of a small town in the American heartland. When they arrive, already drunk, at a trailer, a middle-aged woman is waiting with instructions to drink at least two beers if they want to get anywhere with her daughter. The boys agree and, as they undress, lose consciousness. One of them wakes up as he’s being carried, half-naked, into a church where a kind of religious ceremony is under way: these are the fundamentalists of a church plainly modelled on the Westboro Baptist Church, who want to punish them for their sexual offences.
What have we got?
- A brilliant bunch of actors: Michael Parks as the reverend, singing, preaching and shooting (you’ll know him as the Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in Kill Bill, Death Proof, Grindhouse and From Dusk Till Dawn, and from Machete); John Goodman (the husband in Roseanne, The Big Lebowski); and Melissa Leo (the mother in The Fighter, the lawyer in Treme).
- A charismatic director, Kevin Smith, with a good sense of humour, a comic-book fan and the creator of some very peculiar films (Clerks, Dogma).
- Three key concepts: sex, religion and politics.
What haven’t we got?
- A well-structured, consistent story.
- A traditional film.
How does it turn out?
First and foremost an entertaining film, with lots of blood, lots of shooting, lots of deaths and a great deal of noise (the sound effects are good!). It’s presented in three acts built around the key concepts, in this order: sex, religion and politics. In all of them we see hypocrisy and intolerance, with speeches masterfully delivered by Michael Parks (the reverend) in the second act, and forceful lines from John Goodman (the agent in charge) in the third and from Melissa Leo (the mother) throughout. While the messages are striking, most of the screen time goes to explicit violence. The deaths are merciless, and you never know who’s next. Either way, it leaves a strange taste in the mouth. On one hand it has the charm of a violent, ferocious, entertaining B-movie, where a few mistakes are overlooked and you give up a high level of credibility in exchange for more gratuitous violence. On the other, there’s elaborate cinematography, actors working at a high level and a message of forceful outrage. The feeling is that it has the ingredients to be a gem, but it can’t decide what kind of film it wants to be: message or violence. In fact it’s both without standing out in either. Personally I’d have liked it to go further on the violence, with a few more shocking and fun gore scenes. With the story tied together a little more tightly, it would have been a much more solid film. In any case it’s entertaining, funny in places and food for thought.
Watch it if you’re a Kevin Smith fan (you’ll enjoy it enormously) or if you like Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez-style films.
Recommended, but not to die for.