Monday Morning

Monday Morning definitely puts itself there to be loved or to be shot at. We loved it.

I think about movies that I love. With most, whether they are comedies or dramas, thrillers or action movies, I usually walk away feeling that I saw something original or enlightened. Either in a very real way or superficially, whether or not the story has been told before. From Casablanca to Terminator 2. The Best Years Of Our Lives to Thor. There is always something there.

Monday Morning pushes the envelope and forces us to either look or look away. I suspect that most look, and maybe more so with younger people. The movie shows the homeless situation like I've never seen before. And the scenes that would make those look away and maybe not give the movie a chance are the same reasons many of us look away when a homeless person approaches us (I'm guilty too). We just don't want to deal with the real reality of it all. So when a woman defecates on a sidewalk or a homeless woman gets raped or a man is set on fire, we don't really want to know that that is what is happening on our streets. It's easier to feel that they are down and out and we are kind enough to give them some money now and then. We probably also don't want to hear again that power is what counts in our free society, or to get rid of those that hate us and want to do us harm we should stop doing things that make people hate us (homeless people talking around a campfire). This threatens our stability. Not really, but it might seem to. And it's hard to take and some will probably take it out on the movie. And some will love the movie.

Monday Morning is an important film. It illuminates. Entertaining yes in the sense that we follow a conservative player from MN to L.A. and walk through the streets with him when he loses his memory.

Victor Browne gives us a wonderful characterization of the lead character, Thomas Bach. His romantic interest, is played honestly by Molly Kiddder. Jessica Spotts gives us a sincere and heart wrenching performance as a homeless woman. Beth. And Nat Christian brings some laughter along with empathy as a homeless man, Damn.

Christian is also the writer-director and he is obviously taking a stand with this and putting up the mirror. He beautifully weaves in many of the horrific situations (that our homeless population encounters daily) with the story line. His actors deliver very real and organic performances. Notably (along with those already mentioned), Robert Axelrod, Cliff Sprung and Robert Pike Daniel. The editing (Peter Srinivasan, Jonathan Fung and Christian) mixed many different elements with the right doses.

Christian also went for something here - a sort of "real" surrealism, making something very unusual fit within the very real world of the homeless in Los Angeles (for that matter the world).

I heard that passages in Monday Morning turned off some viewers. That some passages were seemingly were off-putting. By themselves, they may be.

When I watched the movie, those same passages came and went, but I was so absorbed in the film that they seemed natural. Monday Morning has the hutzpah to portray the worst part of the homeless situation as it is. Writer-director-producer, Nat Christian, with obvious passion and heart, lays this scenario down right in front of us very effectively.

The story revolves around Thomas Bach, played with intelligence and deliberate restraint by Victor Browne, who is a radio personality in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Bach is summoned to run for the U.S. senate. However, while he visits Los Angeles, CA, his world is rocked and he loses his memory, causing him to wander around the city. He meets up with several characters who will ultimately change how he used to view people on the streets.

Christian serves up a plate of great dialogue, relationships and some humor. Browne leads a cast of excellent and seasoned actors. I definitely recommend!

Monday Morning is an intellectual exercise mixed in with an intriguing plot, in-your face imagery and a slight bit of something surreal, and it pays off big time.

In the beginning we follow a conservative Minnesota radio host Thomas who is approached to run for the the MN senate. He is also a diabetic. He needs to finalize some personal business in Los Angeles, and then is attacked and finds himself homeless and without his memory. Once in the land of the extremely unfortunates, Thomas (and so are we) is confronted with graphic images on what happens on the streets of Los Angeles. Mind you, some of the images may be offensive to some.

From a screenplay by Nat Christian, who also directed the movie, Monday Morning is very seductive, in that the harsh images come as a surprise to us, they kind of wake us up to the homeless situation. We follow Thomas like the rabbit to where he is attacked, and then we are in another world so to speak.

The director (Christian) very effectively sets us up, hits us hard and then asks us to look inside ourselves when our hero makes some surprising choices.

Thomas is played by Victor Browne who is in almost every scene. He goes from a "playboy" type to being a homeless beggar and to being a political candidate with a lot on his mind. And he gives a hell of a performance. Veteran actors Robert Axelrod, Michael Cohen, Rick Montoya and Bobby Jay Mills give delicious characterizations of homeless people. And Jessica Spotts shines in a very brave performance as "Beth" a homeless mother. Nat Christian is solidly real, implosive and sympathetic as a homeless war veteran. Molly Kidder is delightful as an idealistic aide to a liberal senator performed truthfully by Robert Pike Daniel. Ken Melchior is fun as a manipulative senator.

Monday Morning is the kind of movie that will get people talking maybe even arguing. People will grasp it wholeheartedly or they will turn away from the explicitness and some of the progressive thoughts when the homeless sit around a campfire. But, no mater what, Monday Morning has to be dealt with.

I went to see it with a friend who was invited to a private screening of this movie at the Royal Theater in Los Angeles. I didn't know anything about it and I was blown away. The depths that this film goes through to present the heart breaking situation of the homeless in Los Angeles, and I guess anywhere, are deep and expansive.

Directed by the writer, Nat Christian, Monday Morning represents where I would want to see movies going. A solid story, fascinating characters and hard truths. Story, story, story, story! With a little bit of humor, fascinating visual compositions, excellent acting and a moving score, Christian manages to engage us in an an entertaining drama, mostly set within the bleak and at times very disturbing homeless atmosphere. At first, during the beginning, I thought that I was in for a light hearted comedy/drama. But then, I believe the whole audience was surprised by some hard hitting harsh realities being depicted. Clever move by Christian. His confidence in writing the script is matched by his competent, and I should say passionate hand, behind the camera.

The film is graced (as in the lead character's word) with some excellent performances by the cast headed by Victor Browne. Browne embodies the character of Thomas Bach (a right wing radio host who comes to L.A. and by circumstance becomes homeless) with a talent equal to our best actors walking around today. In Monday Morning, he covers a wide range of emotions from comedic to tragic. He is a sympathetic actor in the sense that he doesn't have to do much for us to care about him. And when he has to deliver, he knocks it out of the park.

His is joined by two female leads, Molly Kidder and Jessica Spotts, both excellent actresses. Kidder lends a real honesty and integrity in the role of Katherine Sands (She and Thomas fall for each other). Great to look at, she offers a very powerful surprise in the movie, which I can't divulge. Spotts delivers an outstanding performance. With true grit, she shines in a very tough role. And then again we have the director, Christian, who delivers a knockout and sometimes humorous performance as a homeless character whom Thomas befriends. There were so many wonderful actors in the cast and it would be impossible for me to mention all of them. Actors like Cevin Middleton as Thomas's producer. Ken Melchior, who plays a conservative, and slightly evil, senator with perfect aplomb. Robert Pike Daniel, who plays a senator at odds with Melchior's character, is always wonderful in his roles. Robert Axelrod gives us a sad portrayal as a doctor who has ended up on the streets.

A special call out to Buffy Dakan, Kim Salt, Cliff Sprung, Bob Jay Mills, Rick Montoya, Michael Cohen, Amy Greenspan and so many others.

The cast is adorned with a beautiful score by Rossano Galante. And the movie which comes in at around one hour and fifty minutes is well served by the excellent editing skills of Nat Christian, Peter Srinivasan and Jonathan Fung. The credits show that Srinivasan and Fung also did multiple duties on this movie.

Monday Morning is the kind of movie that takes you completely away and you are involved in a life that is vividly created and people whom you become immediately familiar with. I highly recommend this movie.

What can I say? Starts out a bit like a soap opera depicting a view of reality one might associate with the lifestyle of powerful upper class and upper middle class people, but leaves the viewer feeling like they just got to watch a true story that happened in a universe remarkably like our own... or maybe even identical. Anyway, you're going to want to see the sequel. That's what I felt at the end of it, as did the other people I spoke with who saw the screening. So when you get to see this movie, remember this simple chant for when the credits start... SEQEUL! SEQUEL! SEQUEL! SEQUEL! SEQEUL! SEQUEL! SEQEUL! SEQUEL!... Got it? Good!!!