robertllr

This is a small, low-key, low budget indie movie with a brilliant color pallet and many artfully composed scenes. The filmography is exquisite, and if the acting seems wooden, and the dialogue feel's flat, that only adds to the sweet, homey vibe this motive gives off. Its director is the owner of the leading cycle--a lovely Moto Guzzi S-1000--and the other bikes are also classics. No Harleys here--this is about a motorcyclist club, not a biker gang. The protagonist is a visually striking woman, and her character's sassy, independent, anti-establishment attitude does not need a lot of acting skill to put across. The whole film is kind of like of "Big Chill" meets "Hair" meets "Girl On a Motorcycle" meets "Leather Boys." And if you don't know those flicks, why are you even reading this?

If you like Kevin Smiths' main opus--Dogma, Clerks (1 and 2), Chasing Amy, Mall Rats, Jay and Bob Strike Back (I'm leaving out Walrus and Jersey Girl)--then this low-budget mix of self-serving retrospective, combined with self-deprecating irony will surely amuse and tickle. You have to stay focused to get all non-stop movie references, puns, and to recognize the (mostly) aging ensemble actors and actresses in their seemingly endless cameos. It really is a hoot. And then there is the huge, nearly indigestible chunk of family sentimentality that manages to be both sickeningly soppy and movingly heartfelt, all at the same. (BTW, Smith pokes fun at both Walrus and Jersey Girl, too.)