The Essence of Irwin

Darren McDaniel's "The Essence of Irwin" plays very much like a mockumentary in the vein of the repertoire of Christopher Guest, as it follows a sociologist and his cameraman into the one horse town of Irwin, Texas. They are there to capture footage of the town for an advertising agency, and in so doing they encounter a steady stream of wild, crazy, and quirky characters. McDaniel's film-making is quite competent; however the real strength of this piece is with the characters and the writing. Characters the audience encounters, such as a woman who is a hellion behind the wheel of a golf cart and another woman who posts inspirational stickers in clear view throughout her house, lead the viewer to wonder how much of this stuff was staged and how much owes itself to the weirdos lurking in small town America (ala "Vernon, Florida"). Unfortunately, "The Essence of Irwin" plays out at an hour and forty minutes, and starts to feel tiresome halfway through when it began acting like a movie full of a wide array of fun characters in search of a story. This aimlessness really taxes the latter portion of the film, but nonetheless with so much wonderful detail and such no holds barred performances this little indie is worth a look.