The Naked Man

This movie is more than just a film co-written by Ethan Coen (of the Coen brother fame). And if your expecting a Coen brother movie, its different but it does have some familiar ties to films made by the Coen brothers. What else would you expect from Director J.T Anderson who has been the storyboard artist on almost all of the Coen brothers projects, and J.T's characters are every bit as interesting as any created by his co-writer and his brother. This movie lives on the dynamics between its characters, and of course great photography by Jeff Barklage. (I think every Coen brother film has had great photography that pushes the story and the characters.) But enough about Coens. This is a fun film and a good film, and I cannot understand why OCTOBER and UNIVERSAL did not release this sucker.

The director has, on a low budget, created a tight script, with beautiful timing. Rapaport plays a pro wrestler (whose persona is "The Naked Man")/chiropractor who is thrust into responding to an attempted gangland takeover of his small town. Wonderfully acted from the chain smoking cynical cops, to the paraplegic gangster, to his Elvis impersonating enforcer, and finally to the biker girlfriend follower. All the little bits were perfect and the movie was a hilarious comedy.

Very meh. Weak comedy and cringey. BUT, if you like purposely made bad films, you'll like this. Cringey but laced with good intentions. Its alternative comedy.

I admit it - the reference to Ethan Coen on the sleeve of this straight-to-video oddity secured a rental. I wasn't disappointed.

The Naked Man bears all the hallmarks of a Coen-penned script - albeit from the more fantasy oriented side of their cadre (see also The Hudsucker Proxy and the Sam Raimi directed Crimewave). Also, the very first sound you hear is a man screaming - another Coen favourite.

This is not to detract from J. Todd Anderson's direction. The whole production has a surreal air. He places events in a small town in middle America, but it doesn't seem out of place. You never forget this is supposed to be a fantasy.

Look out for it next time you're in Blockbuster. If you don't expect something as masterly as The Big Lebowski or The Hudsucker Proxy, you'll love it. A lo-fi Coens flick, if you will.

Was unaware of this, and believe me as much as I love movies, I feel no shame about that. However, this is a must-see for those of us who crave escape into silliness occasionally. The Naked Man is the wrestling moniker of a mild mannered chiropractor with a brutal, but golden touch played by Michael Rappaport, Brooklyn's answer to Gary Busey. All he seeks in life is reunion with his father, a stern pharmacist and believer in pills, and to be a provider to his "best girl" and soon-to-be-born son. However, chilling tragedy strikes in a hilarious Ethan Coen way which sends our back stretcher on a wild mission of revenge in his wrestling persona aided by Delores, a biker babe liberally pierced. Their targets are Sticks Verona, a drug kingpin played by an always funny Michael Jeter, and his driver of the huge semi that he lives in, an Elvis clone who lives on peanut butter sandwiches with bacon. Also, the jewel in the cast, a chain smoking detective wearing a six month shirt and a raincoat that even Columbo would Goodwill, is played by that unique actor Joe Grifasi. There is a long, dialogue-free, classic scene of the beginning of his day that is a gem. Half a load on will get you through the awful parts to the good stuff which is inspired. Shameless fun.