Ball in the House

This is one of those little movies that you leave just shaking your head thinking, `this is probably the best movie playing in this theatre right now, too bad no one will ever get to see it.' Personally, I just happened by it when my girlfriend convinced me to go to an Independent Film Festival. This has got to be the most independent film I have ever seen, I even got to ask the director the question, `what are you going to do to get this movie out there.'

Not all movies need a lot of money to tell a great and touching story. I was consumed by this tale of a 17-year-old boy struggling with alcohol addiction. His family is not just a bunch of stereotypes placed there to progress the story, they, along with everyone else, have the feeling of real people. You will not predict how this movie will end but, then again, you'll never get the chance to watch it.

When we first meet JJ (Jonathan Tucker), he has just got out of a rehab center. His doctor drives him home and JJ asks him to drive in circles around the corner; the doctor refuses. JJ is scared to see his mom, brother and stepfather. "It was the center or jail", he explains later to a friend. It actually seems like he's returning from jail.

Mother Phyllis (Deirdre O'Connell), brother Benji (Nathan Kiley), stepfather Bull (Dan Moran) are ready to welcome the boy home, joined by uncle Ernie (Larry Neumann, Jr.) and his spicy wife Dot (Jennifer Tilly). In the welcome scene, as in every other scene, there's a mysterious environment that involves looks between the characters; looks of anger and unsaid things. The family seems like a graveyard of secrets, that once they're hidden, they never get to see the light again, unless someone opens them. This is not as weird as it sounds; it's all real when JJ arrives, as it is real what happened to him that led to the rehab center. But it's not about what happened, it's about the reasons that made it possible and about one person who has never known a place in the world and has probably lived a fantasy.

The movie is shown in time changes; one is the present (or "the moment", as JJ lives it), with JJ adjusting to his life again, working and trying to stay sober; and the other one is the past, with periodical showings of session in the rehab center, where JJ traps all the attention and we get to see why he is the guy he is when he hasn't even turned eighteen. A key character in these aspects is Dr. Charlie (David Strathairn), who makes JJ realize about the important things in life. But Dr. Charlie could also be conspiring, as many of the others are.

As JJ moves on with things, we meet two characters of his age; Bobby (Ethan Embry) and Lizzie (Aleksa Palladino). The first one is a friend from childhood that had too much fun with him as they were growing up and now there are debts between them. JJ owes Bobby $3500 and starts working so he can earn them. Lizzie was his girlfriend, but left him for Tommy after he went to the rehab center. Did she write him? No. Did she visit him? No. The script presents test for all the characters, and we really want them to pass them. We could think that JJ went to the rehab center as a strategy; to get away from everything. But how can we know? We could think the doctor wants the best for him, that Lizzie cares for him, that Bull and Phyllis are supporting him…We're never really sure and JJ isn't even, because he is beginning to discover his own self.

The only thing we know for sure is Dot's ambitions; she wants everything, and she's married to a man who thinks she loves him when you can tell she doesn't. We have to make all of our deductions from there, if we want to predict or something, but if not, we can sit and experience. The movie is a nice experience to witness. It has nice but simple visuals, achieved by a respectable team lead by director Tanya Wexler, who darkens things a little bit so we don't have to see them entirely. Together with a simple but adequate music, the feeling is clear.

Then it took Matthew Swan to create the story and write, so casting directors Mickie Paskal, Susan Shopmaker and Rachel Tenner looked for the right people that would give life to the material; all this resulting in powerful and moving performances, in higher levels than these films usually bring. Jonathan Tucker and Dan Moran become the movie's highlights. I've read (don't remember where) that Tucker is inexpressive, and I disagree. He is owner of a dramatic complexity that takes over him and makes him shine (it happened in the heart-whelming "Stateside"). Dan Moran is one of those always familiar faces that you can't tell if you've really seen or not before. He plays the most difficult role of the film, and he's stunning. In the best scene of the movie, Bull and JJ have a talk. Just watch Moran's look and Tucker's reaction in a father-son talk between a stepfather and his stepson, where the step father proves to be more a father than anything else. One of the best moving scenes about deep talks I've seen in quite a while.

Jennifer Tilly has been doing the same for years and she can't help it anymore, so we forgive her, even when she's not that great now. A totally unrecognizable Ethan Embry (although I was sure it was him) gives the best performance of his career since "White Squall"; a thing many people won't be able to see. All of his expressions are proof of the gifted actor he is. Deirdre O'Connell and Larry Neumann, Jr. are a little unnoticeable in their roles, as is Aleksa Palladino; however they all deliver correctly.

"Ball in the house" has many positive elements, but it doesn't succeed completely. Still, it deserves a watch from many people, but that couldn't happen in cinema. Another of those good movies that never reach the movie theaters.

This is a great movie--rent it on DVD as fast as you can....The acting is superb, and the writing is some of the best I've seen in years. Nothing rings false, which is rare in my experience. Jonathan Tucker, David Strathairn, and Jennifer Tilly all give true performances, and Ethan Embry is perfect. The setting--the locations--the music--all add to the atmosphere and pull you in till you can't look away. I want to see this movie again in the theaters, but I'll have to make do with the DVD for now... Never predictable, and achingly funny and sad at the same time. See this movie--if you have to go out in the freezing cold snow right now!!

I saw the movie at the Chicago premier. I have to agree with zooeyfan. Extremely powerful amazing performances. Jennifer Tilly is poisonous. Ethan Embry is menacing. Jonathan Tucker is excellent. The cinematography is quite good. But what a bunch of dysfunctional characters, and what a sad movie!

"Relative Evil" is a tough movie to describe. The story of a teen's turbulent reintegration back home after a stint in rehab, it's pitched somewhere between gritty family drama, twisty suspense and camp-infused black comedy. I actually found the tonal messiness intriguing: it's certainly not like any other coming-of-age film or addiction drama I've seen. The movie looks a good bit better than most independent films of the time, despite the lighting being too dark in some scenes.

Although unfocused at times, I was won over by the unusual plot and strong cast, particularly Jonathan Tucker, Ethan Embry and Jennifer Tillly. Fans of Tilly should take special note, as she provides a deliciously eccentric performance as the amoral and cruel Aunt Dot, who will stop at nothing to cause her nephew's demise.