Negócio Arriscado

Non-working Hollywood actor Jon Favreau (as John Person) is nearly $28,000 in debt. With no jobs on the horizon, Mr. Favreau accepts an ultra-weird offer from neighborly Bud Cort (as Neely), who wears a neck-brace. Pay attention; that another neighbor, Joey Lauren Adams (as Grace), first appears with a Band-Aid on her neck is a clue. Watch your necks. Favreau's mission is to deliver a locked, blue suitcase to a man called "Cowboy" (Sean Bean) in Baker, California. Reluctantly accepting the offer, Favreau meets all sorts of strange people in the transient town. They all eventually lead Favreau to an even stranger ending...

Written and directed by Steve Anderson, "The Big Empty" seems to be a cross between David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" TV series and the "Heaven's Gate" cult of the 1990s. It's better than the former because Mr. Anderson's quirks lead to an ending, of sorts. Lynch's "log lady" never made as much sense; let's hope she found the right fireplace. The Heaven's Gate crowd, remember, committed mass suicide to board a spaceship they thought was somehow attached to the Hale–Bopp comet, which passed by Earth in 1997. Like the folks in this film, they prospective travelers wore brand new sneakers. Their bodies "lifted off" in groups of 15, also...

While there are nods and winks to these and other stories, "The Big Empty" is an original work. Anderson appears to be a director to watch. The style and color photography, by Chris Manley, is stronger than the plot. The dozen characters are also more appealing than the story, with sexy Rachael Leigh Cook (as Ruthie) most impressive as a conquest out of Favreau's weight class and age group. Having infectious fun are jealous bf Adam Beach (as Randy), quirky hotel clerk Jon Gries (as L. Ron) and Brent Briscoe (as DAN). And, anyone who thinks they've had enough of Daryl Hannah (as Stella) should take another look at her...

The ending song, "Honkytonk Maniac from Mars" by Jason Ringenberg, is very cool.

****** The Big Empty (5/16/03) Steve Anderson ~ Jon Favreau, Rachael Leigh Cook, Sean Bean, Daryl Hannah

I know a lot of critics have knocked this film, but we found it to be riveting from start to finish - fun, and a great black comedy. There are lots of cute scenes along the way - and an intriguing plot running throughout.

The lead guy is great as your average deadpan Joe - and the rest of the film's characters are wonderfully off the wall.

Don't expect anything to make sense or follow a logical order; if it did, it would take away from the fun.

Some have criticized the film for being low budget, and it is - but so what? Give it credit for its unique settings and vivid color.

I'm not entirely sure what this film was about. The ending is so ambiguous, that I can't tell whether I liked it or not.

I was digging the film for the first 3/4 of the movie, but somewhere in the third act, it became extremely confusing and all the good will that had built up in the wonderful character performances (Favreau, Cook, Grammer, etc) gets lost in the weird hokey-pokey that occurs. I stop caring for these interesting characters because their story is superceded by some new-age stuff that I couldn't even comprehend.

Also, there are elements of the storyline that either take too long to resolve (who's the cowboy? what's in the bag?) or just are never resolved at all (some of the characters are built up, but then just sort of disappear).

Overall, I enjoyed this film, but the ending was a mess. Maybe I'm just not understanding it, but I think they intentionally made it ambiguous. In which case, I'd say that's its biggest flaw.

Stuck in a mediocre life, John Person persist with his dream of acting. Hanging on the hope of a call back from an audition, John is suddenly interrupted by his neighbour Neely. Neely asks for John's help in delivering a blue suitcase to a man called the Cowboy. The delivery point is the small desert town of Baker. Once there, John meets the strange locals; hotel manager Elron, bar maid Stella, the mysterious Ruthie. Complications arise when FBI agent Banks starts investigating John and his matters in Baker.

The Big Empty is a quirky debut for director/writer Steve Anderson. The Big Empty is a mash up of ideas and concepts; aliens and abductions, bowling, the mystery of the suitcase, meeting new people in the likeliest places, freeing once self from life's pit, a self discovery to your inner life and desires. To Anderson's credit, he stops this mash up from a complete muddle and strings it all together convincingly. Yet he has taken on to much all at once. The esoteric story, the kooky characters of the town are of centered to his canvas. He has so many ideas, but placing so many have hindered the film.

A positive and a negative of The Big Empty is its overly ambiguous tone. Questions are thrown at you, hints to their answer are slowly dug up, but so many questions are left unanswered. It's very opened ended, leaving room for much interpretation. Anderson wants you to think and uncover your own answers, which is pleasant to see from a film maker, audiences are too comfortable to have the answers given.

Acting all round is solid. Jon Favreau is strong if it not near his best. Daryl Hannah is great is as Stella. Kelsey Grammar occasionally hits over the top as Agent Banks. Rachael Leigh Cook is an absolute stand out as head strong and free spirit Ruthie. Sean Bean is also quite a stand out as the mysterious Cowboy.

While The Big Empty may not grasp everyones attention or be a wholly stunning film, it shows much talent in Anderson's skill as a film maker. A very solid debut.

I feel so guilty writing a negative review of an independent film with a plot that include alien conspiracies and Sean Bean but I feel overwhelmingly compelled to.

Being a fan of such films as Donnie Darko and Mulholland Drive I was desperate to find another film in a similar vein. Lots of symbolism and a plot that makes you think, plus interesting characters is what The Big Empty needs, then it might be a bit similar to Donnie or Mulholland.

The problem is that this film is pretentious- apparent symbolism is included just for effect- in order to look wierd and make people say 'i wonder what that represents?'. It doesn't represent or mean anything clever or interesting- I guess that means it isn't even symbolism.

And don't expect Coen Brothers-esque comedy or dialogue. 90% of this film involves seeing a slow lingering shot of a very big face as he slowly furrows his brow and prepares to state the bloody obvious. I cannot begin to describe how tedious this film is, the dialogue goes so slowly and with so little purpose that it will have you wishing that something, anything, interesting would happen.

Most of the characters have no purpose- their scenes are entirely superfluous to the narrative progression. I spent ages waiting for Sean Bean to show up and it was good to see him but he couldn't rescue this film.

There is a very, very slim chance that the below par, X-Files 'inspired' plot will interest you and there are perhaps two good jokes in the film. However, if within the first five minutes you find yourself doubting whether you can stand watching his bloody big head for the next couple of hours, just turn it off. You won't miss anything.