The Nowhere Inn

Greetings again from the darkness. Have you ever wondered what would happen if David Lynch and Fred Armisen collaborated on a contemporary reimagining of THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984)? Well, me neither, and that has not happened. But it's the closest I can come to giving you some idea of this meta-comedy concept film from director Bill Benz and co-writers and co-stars Carrie Brownstein and St Vincent.

We are told that initially singer-songwriter-musician St Vincent has asked her friend Carrie Brownstein to direct a documentary on the singer and her tour. Brownstein envisions a blend of concert and offstage footage so that fans get to know the "real" St Vincent. It turns out the real St Vincent is Annie Clark, a woman who plays Scrabble and video games, and loves to shop for radishes at local Farmers Markets. The contrast between St Vincent's onstage red guitar riffs, giant video screen, leather outfits and her offstage calm personality is not just stark, but actually a bit boring.

Boring is not what Brownstein has in mind and it creates a rift between the two women, and flips a switch for St Vincent. The musician goes overboard in trying to manufacture the typical rock star image of cool and aloof. Brownstein is frustrated not just with the artificiality of the new approach, but also in the expanding distance between the two friends. Some of the vignettes are quite humorous - in a surreal way. St Vincent stages an intimate scene in her bedroom with a scantily clad Dakota Johnson, and then another sequence features St Vincent's "family" in a scene right out of "Hee-Haw".

The satire on public vs private life is a topic worthy of discussion. Often it's the fans who feel entitled to know more about their icons, while other times it's the celebrities who are trying to cultivate a public image and garner some extra publicity. In this era of social media, the bigger the personality - the more outlandish - the more publicity and the more followers.

Director Benz's film drags a bit in the middle, and the final act turns somewhat surreal as Brownstein and St Vincent both have their lapses from reality. Both seem to be confused about their public persona vs real life, so it begins to mimic what's happened with the original documentary concept. There is a terrific scene involving St Vincent singing on stage and working her way through red velvet stage curtains, but for the most part this isn't a biting satire - it's more like a soft-touch. The "Portlandia" connection is clear throughout (Benz, Brownstein, St Vincent) but I'm not sure the film is cohesive enough (mockumentary? Wry comedy? Satire?) for a mass audience ... it might work best as midnight madness.

In theaters September 17, 2021.

As "The Nowhere Inn" (2020 release; 91 min.) opens, Annie Clark a/k/a St. Vincent is in the back of a stretch limo that is driving through the dessert. The limo driver tells Annie he has no idea who she is , "and I've driven a lot of celebrities!". At some point he stops the limo and abandons Annie in the middle of the dessert. We get some concert footage, and then Annie introduces her good friend Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney; Portlandia) and informs us that Carrie is going to make a documentary about Annie... At this point we are 10 min into the film.

Couple of comments: this movie is very much a labor of love from Annie Clark and Carrie Brownstein, who co-wrote and also co-produced this. The film's director is Bill Benz, best known for his work on that other Brownstein project, "Portlandia"). Please note: "The Nowhere Inn" is NOT a documentary, but a fictional film brought to us as if it were a documentary. It's a mix of concert footage, fictional scenes, and interviews, all of it served up in a big mix of weirdness and self-conscious art. Normally, I'd be totally up for this, but truth be told that in this particular case, it simply landed with a dud. It's not for a lack of trying. Clark and Brownstein play up the question of where Annie Clark ends and St. Vincent begins. "We are not so different, me and her" observes Annie at some point. Certainly the movie suffers because there really is no plot to speak of, raising the question: what is the point of this film? So that Annie/St. Vincent can let us have a glimpse as to who she really is? If that is the case, she failed miserably as I haven't anymore a clue now that I've seen this, as compared to before.

"The Nowhere Inn" was filmed 2 1/2 years ago, and premiered at the 2020 Sundance film Festival, yes, pre-pandemic. Now 20 months later, the film was released in select US theaters. Being the St. Vincent fan that I am (I saw her on her very first tour in 2007, when she opened for the National, it was simply St. Vincent and her electric guitar, no backup band), I just had to check it out. The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati turned out to be a private screening: I was literally the only person in the theater. I cannot imagine this will play much longer in theaters. If you are a St. Vincent fan, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (if you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

Look, I think you have to a) like st Vincent and b) get her a little bit. Honestly, I had fun thinking about how much fun they must have had, while filming some of the more "outrageous" scenes! You get a little live footage, you get a little of what you think she's like bts and her friendship with CB and then, you also get to laugh with what she created in order to become "more interesting" bts for the documentary. I liked it a lot! I don't know what to call it, but I don't need to. It's not a movie, it's not a documentary, it is really fun though. Also, i loved the cinematography. I rated it with a 6/10, just because I've rated films that I like higher, but this is not a filmy film...whatever, just watch it if you like her! Bye.

I want to start off this review by saying that I was not familiar with St. Vincent or her music. This was the first time hearing of her and therefore there might be something I am missing. In fact I rated the movie as a neutral viewer that enjoys horror movies.

It's certainly an interesting premise and I have to give major props that they did a movie like this. However I think there are pacing issues and the movie was not able to entertain throughout. I feel like this whole thing would have worked better as a short movie instead of a feature film. At times it was confusing and felt surreal which in my opinion doesn't make much sense and just felt out of place. It's a decent movie that has its strengths but I don't think it has enough entertainment value for it to be 90 minutes. [4,7/10]

'The Nowhere Inn': (No Spoilers here!)

Think David Lynch, meets Spinal Tap, meets 'Eraser Head'...Very entertaining on all fronts: Musically, Visually, Storytelling, Editing, and Fun-tense character arcs...very creative!

I didn't expect much, I didn't know much about it before watching, and I even hesitated to watch it because i didn't want to hate it since I really like St. Vincent...But I was surprised!

Well written, very well acted, lots of creative use in the editing that rides the line of 'too much' but never seems to cross it. The story is clear, so I didn't have to work to stay with it: Expectations meet Reality...Glamour meets Simplicity...Trust meets Freedom...Friendship meets Challenge and Sanity meets Unravelling. These are some of the wonderful conflicts and resolutions in the film.

I was entertained throughout and yes, I definitely felt that i got to know St. Vincent - Annie Clark (and Carrie Brownstein!) a little better...well done!