Scammerhead

Caught awhile back at a festival screening, and am looking forward to catching again on streaming. Weird entertaining stew of crime and noir with very dark comedy. Also strange Americana elements and offbeat history. Very timely with it's look at verbal manipulators and exaggerators, with their grandiose projects that ultimately prove to be castles in the sand.

Numerous good performances from familiar character actors, as well as the director Dan Zukovic as the energetic motormouth title character.

(Both hero and villain.) It was shot in many places around the world, which is unusual for a low budget indie film. I liked the short sections in Havana and Tokyo especially. A stand out indie.

I saw this in the main competition at the Montreal Film Festival, and it has remained in my mind. A very original update on a film noir, with some western and other bizarre things in the mix, as well as some fascinating location work throughout the world. Also weirdly funny in places. No many films quite like this one. Exceptional performances all around, and a great turn from the great character actor Alex Rocco. It is the story of an erstwhile "Scammer" and his history of deals and compromises and interactions with some very strange investors and mobsters. Some of the projects he promotes are quite unique and amusing. Also there is quite a share of memorable images. Hope this one gets out there - Bravo!

This film might not be for more mainstream Hollywood formula movie fans, but I found it very entertaining. A very different sort of indie film, with it's own special dialogue style and tone. Apparently an extremely long shooting schedule over many years in numerous cities (Havana, Tokyo, Berlin, Vegas, amongst many others) also creates a unique visual style (a kind of global neo noir) for a clearly small budget indie. Kudos for a fascinating extended desert sequence. It's also quite funny in spots. An interesting look at a very American hustler figure, with some surprising twists (moment to moment I really couldn't anticipate where it was going).

There are also memorable moments from some seasoned performers. (The director, Dan Zukovic, was nominated for "Best Performance" at the Florida film festival where I saw it). I look forward to seeing it again on VOD or DVD.