Oliver Sherman

I just caught this film at the Göteborg International Film Festival, with the director in attendance. Afterwards he stressed the fact that he's leery of making a political film - in short, it is just a story, based on a short story.

One has to wonder about Garret Dillahunt. Is he an actor who has mastered off-kilter to perfection or is he slightly crazy himself? Between his two roles (!) in Deadwood, his short appearance in The Road and now this film, I've never seen him play a normal or even nice guy. Anyway, he's great at what he does and makes the title character a both pathetic and awkwardly menacing figure. A disabled veteran, he moves in with a former soldier who once saved his life and sets about making his only friend's life complicated. The setting is somewhere in the States or Canada. The wife (Molly Parker, another Deadwood actor) pretty swiftly decides that he ought to move on. The lingering, nervous question is: will they get rid of him in time, before something bad happens.

I'll not tell. The film holds some surprises, though some of them can be spotted from afar. The purpose of the film is not to shock you with plot twists or even lay the groundwork for a thriller climax. It's an opportunity to mull over difficult dilemmas in the company of people who seem real. And, political or not, it obviously puts the spotlight on how war can destroy people, who are then expected to adjust to society nonetheless. It's a good film, though a bit of a downer.

It takes a special kind of movie to make suicide seem hopeless and optimistic. Brought to mind back when I was about 20 and took a date to see Leaving Las Vegas. Nothing like a big ol' existential despair burrito to get the appropriate juices flowing.

So, here's a spoiler: Garret Dillahunt is playing some sort of deranged whack job. His character is familiar; maybe everyone has met the same sort of aggressively dysfunctional person at one time or another. He nails the creepiness and the argumentative belligerence that makes the whole thing so frustrating and pointless. Yeah, his brain's sprained from the war, in multiple ways.

Yeah, so you've got him then it basically goes into a really unfunny version of an'80's the-inlaws-are-here-and-they'll-never-leave suckfest. Everyone did a good job. Music was kinda repetitive, that's so subjective though. It starts grim. Then slowly and inexorable heads straight down, then manages to go a few more feet down. Kinda made me feel like punchin' myself in the huevos rancheros.

Funny, I like all the actors/actorettes. Just such a....ughh... like you're cleaning out the fridge and you find this tupperware w/like a half pound of seriously questionable mashed potato looking stuff that you know started out as something totally not mashed potatoes. And you've accepted that you've gotta deal with it, so you go to the trash can and flip it over... and the blob of stuff hangs for a half second while you're actively not breathing through your nose....then it cuts loose and smacks right to the bottom of an empty trash can. Maybe no bag? Maybe so, but now it's gonna be lurking down there so now you've gotta do something else. Now...no, that isn't really exactly like watching this movie, but it's not dissimilar either.

Go watch it, prove me wrong. (poor bastards...)

I saw this film at Noordelijk Filmfestival 2011 (in Leeuwarden, province of Friesland NL). Let me start with admitting that this subject is alien to me. I've never been in the army, and don't know anyone who fought in a war. I can only imagine what they go through, and what scars it leaves behind (inside or outside). Is that the reason that I could not get involved in the main character?? Neither in the new arrival who stirs up a lot of things, nor in his former mate who bears with him to a considerable length out of pity and loyalty, nor in the wife of the latter who allows such an intruder she has no link whatsoever with.

Story develops slowly but steadily, without dull moments as far as I remember. Scenes are kept relative concise, just long enough to make clear what is going on. I have only positive comments on the quality of the script, the casting and the acting. The story is intense, keeping us wondering throughout how this would end, most probably either bad or ugly, because chances were slim that something good comes out of this.

Events take a surprising twist near the end. Even after Oliver has made himself impossible and is asked to leave, he tries to do a good deed towards the people who just threw him out. Did he do it to pay back past friendship or their hospitality?? Or did he do it to correct an injustice that overcame his hosts earlier?? I think this could have been exploited much better, if only to show how all main characters move on with their lives.

We see Oliver's fate with our own eyes near the end of the film, but this leaves us (me anyway) unsatisfied. What the impact of all this was on the couple and their kids, leaves us guessing. This is a second open end that could have been exploited better.

All in all, the film left us half way in getting involved. The scenes were evenly dosed, and the acting was commendable. I scored a middle-of-the-road 3 (out of 5) for the audience award when leaving the theater. In hindsight I think a 4 would have been more appropriate, when I had not been so reluctant to get feelings of pity towards Oliver, but his "explosive" behavior kept me.