Follow Me Outside

I found Follow Me Outside for 1 EUR in the local second-hand store. It's a movie from the year 2000, a magical time when just about every movie was released on DVD. The box features the logo of Carrefour, a French hypermarket chain. I suspect that this film was back in the days in the budget bin waiting as a bargain to be picked up by buyers of a 1st DVD player.

The movie? Interesting to view. Actually it is not a very good film and certainly not commercial. The main story is a crime romance: a successful HR recruiter leaves her fiancé for an ex-musician/criminal. That ex-musician, in turn, abandons his girlfriend. In the bar where she works, 2 hitmen soon appear looking for the ex-musician and the bartender decides to join them in looking for him.

The film is strongest in the first half hour: a treasure hunt that promises to be exciting. Unfortunately, absurd situations happen afterwards and the film from then on leans more towards dark comedy without ever becoming really funny. There are loose ends and the whole thing is not believable. It's a bit of a David Lynch 's Wild At Heart homage but not quite as good.

Still, I kept watching and it was quite fun. The characters have a story and are well portrayed by otherwise unknown actors. And the film style in particular has something to it. It's grunge, America in the late 90s. We see businessmen in New York City and workers in rusted cars in the countryside. It is unbelievable but at the same time a beautiful example of artistry. Low budget that achieves a lot with little effort and not even that much originality. Interesting and therefore a tight 7.

An entertaining movie in that it brings a cast of characters together, who would be unlikely to have much to do with each other in the "real world". The film takes all sorts of entertaining, and senic, twists and turns. The jilted bartender is funny as hell, as well as very real. The "cops" in pursuit are a comedy pair.