brucenadler

This is a damn funny little flick chock-full of great character actors in lead and supporting roles. The most recognizable faces include Geoffrey Arend (Snozzberries!) and Katherine Erbe (from Oz and Stir of Echoes), but there's a ton of others, including many people you know you know from somewhere but can't necessarily place it. There's Larry Fessenden (the first kill in You're Next), Deanna Russo (the first kill in Rest Stop), Kristen Connolly (the final girl from Cabin in the Woods), Cody Horn (tough End of Watch chick), and Richard Tanne (dude who gets eaten alive in Swamp Shark). It's a lot of fun just going through the film and figuring out where you know everyone from. Tanne and Noah Barrow (a newcomer) give the strongest performances. They star as two childhood friends who re-unite in their 20s when one gets into a car accident and needs a live-in helper. That probably makes it sound like an uplifting drama but quite the opposite. It's a demented comedy that lives somewhere between a Kevin Smith film and a Wes Anderson film. Maybe with a little Todd Solondz sprinkled in. Loved it!

I caught "Patsy" last week at the Ft. Lauderdale film fest having never heard of it, its director, or its stars. It's always a gamble viewing festival entries blind, as one never knows quite what they're going to get, but in this case I lucked out, and feel fortunate to have seen this movie "first," as I have a feeling it's going places.

The movie's really got a lot to offer, ranging from light comedy to dark comedy, quirk and farce, romance to drama, and even a healthy dose of the psychological; it reminds me of "Memento" and "Mulholland Drive," not in tone, but in that I've found myself thinking about it almost obsessively ever since the screening.

Without divulging too much about the plot (the less you know going into this one the better), it involves a depressed shop owner (played with some commendable understatement by producer Brett Golov) who gets entangled with a mysterious girl (a nice turn by Christine Lakin, who actually has a bunch of creds to her name--I knew I recognized her face but didn't know how till I clicked her) and...well...a lot of crazy stuff goes down involving hit men, amnesia, government agencies, schizophrenia, and a black box that may well have the key to the cosmos.

An impressive low budg debut from writer/director Anton Jarvis, I'm very interested to see what he, Golov, and Lakin do next, presumably with a bigger budget. Don't know when it's getting released, but if "Patsy" comes to an indie theatre near you, check it out.