This film is interesting, to say the least. As I said in my title, it's an Indy film shot in my hometown. Just to get it out of the way, it's really weird to see shots of your bowling alley or your comic book shop.
OK, now that's out of the way, this film says a lot about humanity and modernity.
The film follows Tagg (Ryan Carlson), an incredibly cynical man who justifies things like OJ Simpson's acquittal and the murder of Phil Hartman (or at least tries to). Three years ago, he was a very optimistic guy who believes that he had enough drive and opportunity to move up in the world. He takes on a whole new persona, really. He decides to exercise more and interact more with people. Selling his car, leaving his apartment, and holing up in a hotel room are the steps he takes to further his quality of life. Of course, he ends up losing all of this optimism throughout the movie, seen with intermittent past scenes sewn between the present-day plot.
The most interesting thing about this movie is that Tagg becomes his own antagonist. I mean, this movie might have something to say about society, but to me, the most important message is that you become your own undoing in the end. Other people help, but in the end, it's your own actions and, yes, interactions, that dictate your attitude toward life. So, the message is worth listening to.
Now, there are obviously things wrong with this movie, as with any movie. I didn't like the ending. It felt like Dan Jones, the writer, was looking for a happy ending or any ending in particular. Granted, the ending they went for was anything but predictable. I definitely didn't expect it.
Ryan Carlson's performance was very well done. At times, it seemed off. That's to be expected though, with very little budget and guerrilla film-making like this tends to have a very limited amount of shooting time.
The soundtrack takes some getting used to. Sometimes the songs don't fit the mood and there are missteps in the sound mixing. Again, budget.
The chances of many on IMDb getting a chance to see this movie are slim. My father actually found it at a street fair. But if you ever do get a chance to see this movie, go for it.
