Love & Plutonium

Jeff Priskorn, taking over for Ben Affleck and not wearing skin tight red leather pants (thank you Jeff, we all appreciate this more than you will ever know), not only stars in this but adapted it to a screenplay from his wife's play, and directed it as well. Let's not forget his band Elixir, who has the movie theme song. I'm sure Jeff had more roles in this project, this guy doesn't sleep. And of course his wife Jacquie costars, along with a cast of other talented up and comers. Michigan is a hotbed of talent. The next Hollywood? Let's hope not, we have enough greed and corruption here in Michigan already from the Automotive Industry.

The movie is a charming love story of good versus evil with one large dollop of romance thrown in, mixed well with a teaspoon of wackiness, salt to taste, serve warm with a side dish of Arbor Daze if possible. In a town full of villains and heroes. Sort like the town that The Tick (tm) lives in. Yet this movie has its own unique identity and style.

Make sure you watch it again with the commentary tracks. Some fun stuff in there! Get it on DVD as opposed to VHS for this reason (plus the outtakes and bonus stuff).

I took this movie home from my work one day since it was filmed there. I had very low expectations after reading the summary, and understanding it was a low budget film. Somehow, my expectations were shattered. This movie has no good things about it. The art direction is terrible, the writing is ridiculous, and for some reason, everything is green. The terrible acting in this movie is the least of my worries. It practically breaks every rule of directing, and this director does not know what he is doing. I am surprised anyone had their name attached to this movie. This literally is the worst my I have ever watched in my entire life.

Throughout the movie there are random shots of cartoons, as if it was a comic book. These shots are not motivated at all, and have no purpose to go along with the story. Unless this movie was aiming for horribleness, then it failed at every level. Don't waste your time.

If you're into mega-budget Hollywood schlock, car chases, explosions, and the like, this movie will disappoint. But if you appreciate good writing and original stories, then Love & Plutonium is for you. It's a romantic comedy wrapped up in a superhero tale of semi-epic proportions. The writing is witty and the comedy is solid, if sometimes out of left field. In some places it almost seems like an homage to MTV's The State (check out the extended running footage about 45 minutes in!). The superheroes exhibit less-than-super powers, but that makes the story even funnier. Strong performances abound, from Nate Topie's henpecked portrayal of evil genius Dr. Medlo, to Maggie Patton's Adam West-like take on the superhero Justice Kitten. The soundtrack is stellar as well, featuring good rock and comedy tracks throughout, including songs by Throwing Toasters, Pthalo and Elixir.

Production company Loose Change Entertainment is building a solid library of indie films, and though they're low-budget, they certainly manage to package a lot of production value here. Watch out for this group!