Gentlemen Broncos

"Gentlemen Broncos" is so off-the-charts weird at times that you often can't tell whether it's breaking new ground as a brilliantly original and creative work - or just trying too hard.

Michael Angarano ("Forbidden Kingdom") plays Benjamin Pervis, a friendless teen who lives with his penniless mom in a geodesic-domed house in rural Utah. Ben is a writer of sci-fi fantasy fiction who has one of his stories stolen by Ronald Chevalier (the delightful Jemaine Clement), a world-famous author with a James Mason voice. Ben also runs into a couple of bizarre indie-film makers who want to make the same story Chevalier stole from him (entitled "Yeast Lords" from the series "Gentlemen Broncos") into one of their shoestring-budget productions.

It's hard to know whether writers Jared and Jerusha Hess (Jared also directed the film) have any real affection for their characters and the world they inhabit or whether they view them merely as objects of out-and-out mockery and ridicule. In fact, the characters, with their mouth-breathing, slack-jawed expressions and atonal line readings, achieve near-freak show status at times. It's this air of condescension, rather than the tale itself, that sometimes makes it hard for us to laugh at what's happening on screen.

Despite this discomfort, however, there is still much to admire in the work. The movie has fun parodying both the unscrupulous nature of the publishing business and the accoutrements of low-budget filmmaking. Clement is marvelously deadpan as the sci-fi penner whose writer's-block forces him to scrap all traces of authorial integrity in pursuit of the almighty buck. And Angarano creates in Benjamin a character we can actually care about and root for. The enactments of scenes from Benjamin's novels are appropriately hokey and cheesy, and the movie also makes astute musical choices, particularly Zager and Evans' 1969 hit "In the Year 2525," which effectively book-ends the story.

You will know within 2 minutes of watching this if you can watch all of it or not - it is anti-Hollywood, just about anti-indie, a brilliant take on boredom, eccentricity, makes unoriginality into hyper-originality and is generally like a 1930s freak show with a side order of banal.

Seriously weird, and yet oddly familiar, the psychodramas and models of parenting and the wakwardness of friendships are all twisted in a maelstrom of ideas that just keep on coming. Every character is explored not for character but for something odd, find the oddness, in the face, the mannerisms etc; and its in their eccentricities that you find the story.

However, behind all of the strangeness, there is consummate skill: the actors are all just on the line between satire and buffoonery and it all works brilliantly. This is a truly strange, odd, little film with Sci-Fi roots and strange strange buds.

All I can say is plunge in - it is one of the stranger films out there - yet it has heart and humor, and many will recognize the nerdcore COS world it inhabits all too well - if off the wall is your cup of tea you can rest assured you have found the right stop...weirdly brilliant....

I watched this with my 10 and 6 year old boys and we laughed the whole time. It's a ridiculous movie, with crazy, interesting and incredibly funny characters. Jennifer Coolidge is brilliant, as usual. Benjamin, the main character, is believable as a thoughtful, possibly gifted outsider amongst crazies. There are lots of fun shifts between the main plot line and Benjamin's created one, the story that was stolen. His story is shown via perfectly bad sci-fi movie scenes, complete with dialogue believably written by a teenage boy. We loved it - happened upon it and were glad we did. I saw a negative review for the movie and will say I thought it was MUCH funnier and better than Napolean Dynamite.

this unknown little indie film is a strange delight, i managed to catch it on TV recently and i was amazingly surprised. its premise did sound like a rip off of big fat liar, but its content was filled with a sparkling amount of originality. the cast wonderfully carry the story of original creations being destroyed which i believe to be a stab at all the films which may have been based on great source material but destroyed by the stupid minds the carry on to own them. the best part has to be the performance from Jermaine clement as a snooty and up his own anus sci-fi writer. an excellent treat for any hunters out there. i would highly recommend this film to any one who enjoys cringe humour that is made to make you feel uncomfortable.

I get that it might not be everyone's cup of tea but my wife and I found it laugh out loud funny!