Two Harbors

It's been a long time since I've seen a movie that warrants analytical or critical discussion. James Vculek's Two Harbors demands such discussion. Like any great novel, Vculek purposefully avoids obligatory statement of the obvious and, through clever dialogue and subtle yet stunning black and white imagery and scene selection, allows the audience to draw its own conclusions concerning a great number of things. This certainly cannot be said for most over-produced Hollywood films of today's era, which all too often insult the audience's intelligence, by not only stating the obvious, but placing style ahead of substance. There is great style and substance in this masterful independent film.

I caught this flick on Joost...and wow. I've never really given indie movies a chance because I always thought they were cheesy, w/ poor production value, but Two Harbors has changed my mind. Cassie was one of the most intriguing characters I've ever seen in any movie. And Vic really seemed like an authentic person...if it were ever released on DVD i'd buy it, but a director/actor commentary would be a must ^_^ And while I may not be ready for the Tribeca Film Festival just yet, I think that this movie could do a lot enlighten many movie lovers that indie should be taken as seriously as the Tribeca faithful already take it. Again, if you decide to go out on a limb just once for a film this year, and step out of your viewing comfort zone, please let it be for Two Harbors.

Two Harbors is a very interesting exploration of an actual incident reported in the New York Times several years ago. James Vculek has written an engaging work exploring the character and quirks of the two main characters, Vic (Alex Cole), and Cassie (Catherine Johnson). There is a very nice contrast between the curmudgeonly action figure dealer Vic and the vulnerable Cassie. The film has very witty dialog, and nice cameo performances by Claudia Wilkins, Richard Ooms, and Ari Hoptman. The cinematography really evokes the feeling of winter in Two Harbors, MN, a small town on the north shore of Lake Superior. I also really liked the music soundtrack, which contributes greatly toward the mood of the piece.

I caught this movie at the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival. It's one of the better movies I've seen in a while. I hope someone picks this up and I very much want to buy it. It is the story of a grumpy middle-aged seller of antique action figures, Vic, who meets a sweet, very vulnerable young woman, Cassie, who sells dolls in a booth in the same center. He has been trying for years to catch the notice of extra-terrestrials, apparently because no one down here notices him and she goes along with it because she has the same problem. It was at once funny and tragic. It does a great job of making its two major characters very real, despite their general bizarreness and likable, despite Vic's abusiveness to almost everyone he meets. It's not perfect, but it's about as close as you can get for a movie made for so little money. The fact it was a first film for the writer/director makes it all the more amazing. The hope of finding something like this is the reason I go to independent film festivals. Buy it if it ever comes to DVD.

This is an interesting left turn for Reel 13 Indies. TWO HARBORS is a B&W 75 minute film from Minnesota that features non-actors and is about two people finding a connection through a search for alien life. I applaud the boldness of the Reel 13 programmers of thinking out-of-the-box when selecting this film. I just wish they had picked a stronger film to be bold with. As a matter of fact, I wonder if the choice had more to do with the uniqueness of the film than with the actual quality of the film itself (Not that TWO HARBORS is completely without merit, but I'll get to that a little later).

As is common with independent films, TWO HARBORS is limited in terms of location. There are only two real locations – a large junk dealership market and a very teeny trailer, which is the home of the middle-aged main character, Vic, played by Alex Cole. Writer/director James Vculek uses the market setting to provide exposition about Vic, who is one of the dealers there. He has various people walk up to Vic and start very long conversations that provides us with just two pieces of information – Vic sells space toys (he prefers to call them "outer space action figures") and he is a caustic asshole. This is emblematic of one of the two key problems with TWO HARBORS - all the chatting. I've said it before and I'll say it again – we are dealing with a visual medium and filmmakers need to work harder to tell their stories visually. There are exceptions, of course, but generally, endless patter is not so engaging on film – particularly if the dialogue is being used as exposition. Pretty much all the conversations in the film are long and unnecessarily verbose. A notable example would be a few scenes which feature Vic trying to play himself off as a Boy Scout leader in order to get a discount at a store. He argues with the clerk back and forth and these scenes don't even advance the plot one iota. This is the kind of thing that makes even a 75 minute film feel long.

The other problem with TWO HARBORS is the acting. I may be a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to performance in film, but I really don't feel like there's a good excuse for not having good actors in your films. There are plenty of good actors out there, many of which willing to work on low-budget projects – even in Minnesota. Many filmmakers eschew the importance of acting ability as being secondary to their visuals, but that is naïve. In narrative film-making, next to the story, nothing is more important than the acting/performances. If you don't believe the people enacting your story, your audience is lost.

Originally, I thought Vculek was using non-actors, but as the film went on, I decided that they were probably community theater-type actors. It wasn't that they were uncomfortable on camera. It's that they were overly theatrical (i.e. big). Granted, the best of the actors were the two leads – Cole and Catherine E. Johnson as Cassie, a lonely young girl that gets caught up in Vic's extra-terrestrial hunt. They seemed to have the most training, but they were still a little rough around the edges. The eccentricities they displayed seemed to be surface only - not coming from a real, organic place within. Ms. Johnson, in particular, is an interesting case. She definitely has a presence – a Midwestern charm about her, but that charisma belies the multitude of issues her character is supposed to have. She struggles to portray the idiosyncrasies that stem from a supposed life of solitude and (slave?) labor, relying on stock gestures like eye rolls, lip biting and stammering to suggest her discomfort with the outside world.

I mentioned in the first paragraph that TWO HARBORS is not completely without merit and here's what I mean. Without giving too much away, there is a fade to white an hour into the film. After that, the story takes a stunning turn, which allows the last fifteen minutes to be evocative and downright powerful – it's like a sucker punch to the gut, but in a good way. It's almost a huge relief to feel something after so long with these characters. The last five minutes of the film don't have any dialogue at all and the result is the best part of the film – subtle, detailed (Cole does his best work of the film) and most importantly, cinematic. Then, with the closing credits comes the most staggering revelation of all – that it's based on a true story, which got me to thinking. With all the dialogue, the minimal locations and the lack of cinematic qualities, it occurred to me that with two kick ass actors and a tightening re-write, TWO HARBORS might make a really kick-ass stage play – maybe even a one-act. If there are any bold theater producers out there reading this, I definitely recommend seeing if you can get a hold of the film and contact the filmmaker, Reel 13 or whomever. There might be something to this story after all…

(For more information on this or any other Reel 13 film, check out their website at www.reel13.org)