Treed Murray

I was flicking through channels on my TV dial at 1:30am couple of nights ago when I stumbled upon this thing already deep into opening credits. Though the little that I saw of the introductory sequence had me convinced it was at best a corny Canadian TV 'project' or an episode of some US syndicated TV series shot in Toronto I still decided to keep watching. And I'm glad I did. Well, kind of.

The first part of the movie (chase scene, Murray getting on the tree, first physical confrontations before the impasse, etc.) is truly riveting. It exploits every big city dweller's palpable fear - that of being victimized in a random, senseless act of violence. Basically, this is the same shtick Steven Spielberg built his movie empire on: introduce a rudimentary phobia every normal person harbours to some degree, extend it to extreme levels, and then exploit it cinematically to no end - his movie "Duel", and even "Jaws" to a lesser extent, often came to mind during the initial stages of "Treed Murray". So, kudos to William Philips for, at least, keeping me on the edge of my seat. At this point I still cared about all characters and was really interested in seeing where the plot takes them.

Unfortunately, the movie starts derailing sometime into the public park tree standoff. Despite coming off as this great menacing force in the beginning, watching these 5 hoodlums gets to be a major drag as time goes on. The screenplay tries its hardest to put a human face on them through minor, halfassed subplots, in hopes of providing the story with fresh legs, but all the details they (in)voluntarily surrender about personal hardships pale in comparison with the fact they're chomping at the bit to kill this random guy for absolutely no reason. We also learn Murray is no choir boy himself, but again, the fact that he cheats on his pregnant wife, occasionally uses hard drugs, and generally seems to be a manipulative, self involved jerk is completely irrelevant when viewed against the insanely murderous path these kids are on.

The fact that screenplay calls on the kid-gangsters to take turns at being evil, insightful, conniving, benevolent, barbaric, caring, bloodthirsty, poignant, etc. doesn't help either. That it comes off hokey is no great surprise as such series of transformations would be next to impossible even for seasoned pros to pull off, let alone a bunch of teen actors.

One also can't help but notice the unrealistic touches throughout the film. Murray, lame ad-exec who probably never lifted anything heavier than a pencil in his life, exhibits remarkable balance and stamina in fighting off a couple of charging gangbangers from a narrow tree branch. While incapacitating one of them, the other manages to get on the tree and Murray amazingly further succeeds in cuffing and tying him using a personal belt - quite a feat considering for example that it usually takes two trained cops to cuff an overzealous protester on terra firma.

Still, I'd be more than willing to overlook all the artificial moments had the movie been more brave and direct. It started off with a lot of potential but quickly started losing its punch.

Taking a page from old-fashioned, one-off thrillers from the Sixties and Seventies like LADY IN A CAGE or THE INCIDENT, writer/director William Phillips uses a deceptively simple plot to produce a psychological thriller/character study that at the very least is engaging. Thank goodness the producers made sure that it got a title change before reaching American screens. As it is, the new title "GET DOWN" may trick some people into thinking this is some kind of disco period piece like CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC. For anyone who may have given this film the brush-off for that reason, let me assure you: this one is WAY better.

The premise is straight to the point: a harried businessman, John Murray (David Hewlett from the excellent CUBE, another controversial indie flick), is on his way to work downtown, and probably late. Not wanting to be bothered by the homeless people and the panhandlers, he decides to take a short cut through the city park. Bad luck for him. On the way, he is stopped by a young thug whom he asks for directions. The teen demands money for his help, and when Murray refuses, the kid blocks his way and demands his wallet. P*ssed off by this, Murray pops the kid in the face with his briefcase, which results in the sudden appearance of the rest of the "gang" the young thug belongs to. WORSE luck for him.

A chase ensues, and a desperate Murray resorts to the only thing he thinks will prevent him from a severe beating: he climbs a very tall tree. Hence the title. Now a war of words, wills and wild attempts to get at him begins, revealing things about Murray and the young punks who are after him, that let the audience in on one important truth...none of us is better than anyone else, even when we'd like to believe we are. Because as it turns out, we are more alike than we want to admit, or may even realize.

For a small, short film with no big names to speak of, there are strong performances all round, with Hewlett leading the cast. Murray is not a likeable character, even when we know that he's in the right about defending himself, yet Hewlett still manages to make him seem human and flawed, rather than outright hateful, which would've been a major hardship for the film to overcome.

All the young performers are fairly good, with Cle Bennett a remarkable standout as the "gang's" leader, Shark. He has a lot of the same vibe and style as ANGEL'S J. August Richards, and I suspect it won't be too long before we end up seeing him getting a lot more work.

Though the socio-political and economic issues addressed here have reviewed before, and in much better fashion in other movies, at least Phillips guides his cast in a way that makes it all seem fresh and original. That said, the director couldn't miss throwing in a least one homage, namely to John Carpenter. It involves a very unexpectedly creepy scene, in which Murray witnesses first hand, the one thing that makes his aggressors actually run for the hills, (or in this case, the bushes.) It is a very goosebump-raising scene that carries with it echoes of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK or ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, and you've gotta love somebody with enough smarts and savvy to give 'props' to those two classics.

I'll give this four out of five stars. A bigger name cast and a more seasoned director would have raised GET DOWN'S cinematic pedigree, but as is, it won't leave you bored, and not too disappointed, (unless, like me, you don't get into the anti-climactic finish.)

Unenlightening social observations mar what's essentially an emotionally-driven confrontation film. As it is, there's too much pandering to typical urban stereotypes and cheesy melodrama instead of simply a raw struggle for survival. Engaging enough, but way too practical when it should have been primitive.

While this movie seems to revolve around characters and situations that are cliche and perhaps more based on American media archetypes than reality, Treed Murray nevertheless turns out to be a thought-provoking examination of issues relevant to today's times.

Growing up watching the TV series Degrassi Junior High, we always used to joke that for a show noted for its "reality" they sure did a remarkable job of overlaying every possible teen calamity on a very small group of characters. This movie can be accused of a similar projection. However, perhaps in 90 minutes of film this sort of license may be not only allowable, but necessary.

Overall, this is a very worthwhile, entertaining and interesting film, that manages to stand quite apart from those movies from which its characters have been lifted.

This Canadian film is one of the best in reflecting young delinquents' life and psychology. It is about a man, Murray who takes a shortcut in a city park, and loses direction. He is confronted with a young boy, Carter who demands him five dollars for directions. After a confrontation, Murray kicks Carter, and a gang appears. Murray runs away and climbs a tree. After not being able to bring Murray down, the band decides to wait for him, so they will be able to punish him. The whole action of the movie will happen on this tree. We will have the opportunity to get an insight in a gang's life, and the film will be full of interesting dialogs between the gang members and Murray.

The screenplay is very good, the characters are good, essential for a low budget film like this. The characters are always innovating. There is only one location, and a low number of characters. But the good screenplay, and the good acting performance distracts the attention from this. A nice movie, must be seen if you have time.