clovis-5

The story itself just didn't grab me. But the shots of mid-90s New York City, ranging from street scenes to skyline views with the World Trade Center, were much appreciated. Also appreciated are the music and dance sequences near the end which feature some amazing Cuban performers, including an elderly couple who perform a memorable dance sequence. The fact that this was released on video-only in the U. S. *four years* after its Japanese theatrical release is notable. Boxcover design oddly has no stills with character of Jose, but features the chauffeur character on both front and back.

This thriller is set in Buffalo, and is a kind of homage to that city, formerly one of the Gilded Age urban centers of the Northeast. This upstate NY post-industrial setting is a nice change of pace, and provides a post-industrial backdrop to the travails of a private eye as he navigates the twists and turns of intrigue, murder and espionage surrounding the works of Nikola Tesla. In this regard, the film is as much about Buffalo as it is about Tesla, whose person and work are invoked reverentially by various characters in the course of the film. The script provides great dialogue, lots of snappy exchanges. Some of the twists and turns seemed hard to follow, but this did not prevent me from enjoying this fun and offbeat cinematic ride.

As hard as this film was to watch, it is undeniably a fine piece of work that is ultimately rewarding when justice is "served". Fast food establishments are a big part of the service economy, as manufacturing and other job sectors were exported abroad. Fast food workers are, like increasing numbers of American workers, low-wage workers. Low wage workers, regimented workers, are vulnerable workers. Aside from the obvious issues of obedience, power, gender and sexual assault, this film offers a critique of the corporate system that is designed to keep American workers vulnerable and desperate. As Dreama Walker's character says to the prank caller "I *have* no money".

There's a lot of fine acting here. Everyone acquits themselves admirably. The screenplay has some darkly comic moments, as when the prank caller chuckles as his targets make his job easier than he would've imagined. Dreama Walker is the real star of this -- her facial expressions vividly convey a sense of disempowerment, disbelief, and ultimately disgust. The film nicely intercuts the scenes from Becky's ordeal with scenes of patrons on the front end chomping away on fries and other deep fried fast food fare.