Jerome

Some films claim to be "independent" but really aren't. They just use the term to capitalize on a marketing niche. Jerome is the real deal. The tone and style of this compelling film is reminiscent of a time when movies were more than poor excuses to market video games and burger franchises. Any film buff or student of filmmaking owes it to themselves to search for this one and take a look at the kind of movie that actually deserves the "independent" label. The story really pulls you in and does so without giving away too much too soon. You have to watch and listen and in the end you are rewarded for doing so. You'll find yourself thinking about this movie for days after you've seen it, especially if you have ever worked at a job that you hated, and who hasn't? There are amazing performances by the leads, Drew Pillsbury and Wendie Malick. Malick, who is on "Just Shoot Me" and was in "Dream On", takes a walk on the wild side and she's never been better. She usually plays glamour types, but here she is down and dirty in a part that is a complete 180 from any of her tv roles. Pillsbury has the tougher acting job since he plays a quiet, misunderstood man who can't quite express himself. It's his performance that gives the film such an emotional yet humorous feel. I was lucky to see this film at the AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles last year and I recently saw that is it finally getting a small release in theaters. It's a cool, darkly funny little movie and it's really worth seeking out.

Up until now the only way you could see this cool movie was at a film fest or in a one of the limited cities in which it was in theaters. I came across it on the Sundance Channel late one night and have been a fan ever since. I see now it will finally arrive on video and I have already placed my advance DVD order. This is one to own. Made on limited budget, this the type of film that 'Hollywood' would never make, maybe 25 years ago, but not today. Maybe that is why it feels so real and realized. This is the kind of movie that proves that you don't need tons of money, special effects, or manipulative music to make a great movie.

I viewed this late one night on Sundance Channel and was at first intrigued at the photography. Impressive colors and angles. It held your interest and set the mood of the long long roads in the mid-west that lead to nowhere. But eventually, something has to happen. To this viewer, it didn't. Drew Pillsbury, playing the drifter, out to find something else in his life other than a job and family responsibility, seemed to draw your attention, but then really didn't take you anywhere. Close up after close up of his rugged face with almost the same look on it. "What's happening?" seemed to be the look he had.

Unfortunately he runs into this plain Jane who seems to only have one expression on her face. Hard to describe just what she was trying to convey. Wendy Malick, as Jane, was rather predictable in her performance. A bit over acted at times, this viewer was so glad to see her hit the dirt after shooting an innocent victim attempting to help her fix her car. Only good part of the movie to me. Then it's all down hill from there.

Writers /Directors, David Elton and Thomas Johnston made a good attempt to tell the story, but it could have used some drastic cutting and change of leading lady. I love evil leading ladies, Nicole Kidman in MALICE, but this one didn't have the oomph to me. Sorry.

Jerome, a clever, and taut indie featuring wonderful perfomances has at it's core a basic corollary: The ideal of 'freedom' can vary greatly within each of us and therefore the price paid for that freedom. The film paints the portrait of a burnt-out welder who one day decides to change his life, literally walk away from family and friends in pursuit of a festering dream. It's a symbolic jouney that can't help but be frought with peril and take him unexpected directions. Jerome is not the name of the said protagonist, but rather a small artists alcove in the middle of the Arizona desert the film's anti-hero, Wade Hampton, has uprooted his life for. It's a place he knows only through a postcard and once the free-spirited, drifter Jane shows up, Wade's seemingly straight-forward itinerary begins to buckle. Jerome is refreshingly introspective, given its familiar subject matter. Wade's pursuit is marked by such innocense and singleness of purpose, his conviction in his dream so total, that he succeeds in blocking out the inherent emptiness of such a quest. Beautifully photographed, Jerome is a thoughtful, stylistic and understated piece of filmmaking, a road trip into the core of everyday human dissatisfaction where the route is seldom straight and the destination is never the final stop. It is the road less traveled and assuredly a road worth taking.

Jerome, AZ is the destination of this road trip flick about a not too bright welder who walks off the job, leaves his family, and hits the road in his boss's car. A shoestring indie, "Jerome" is one of those shallow character-driven dramas where the camera lingers endlessly over every scene as though we're supposed to be wallowing in the pathos of the moment when we're really just getting bored out of our socks. Not totally unsatisfying, this flick delivers too little too late and in the end and seems to have no purpose other than showing us how much trouble a guy can get into by simply passively defaulting to the consequences of situations as they arise. For indie lovers only.