I enjoyed MISTER DISSOLUTE, the latest video feature from auteur Mark Baranowski and his wife Ryli Morgan. It's something of a departure for them, but likely to be enjoyed only by fans already on board.
They've been making these videos since the powerful 2001 short film DESPAIR, which won Ryli near-cult status. Since then hubby Mark has been marching to his own drummer, cranking out an idiosyncratic set of horror, comedy and crime videos that don't fit into an obvious niche (i.e., the marketable horror & sex genres).
DISSOLUTE is in the territory of Abel Ferrara's breakthrough film BAD LIEUTENANT, dwelling upon the life & milieu of a corrupt cop. Unlike Abel's approach and the equally morbid followup by Werner Herzog, Mark dwells on the relationships of Bad Detective Ron Fugate in his own urban jungle of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Ron is cheating on his wife with her sister, played by Ryli Morgan -as sexy as ever and treating the fans to a very hot 3-minute sex scene with real-life husband. Given Mark's prominent tattoos (Ryli has some too), the scene immediately reminded me of the Bruce Dern/Maud Adams tryst in the now-nearly-forgotten 1980 film TATTOO, which was marketed with a "did they or didn't they" tease about the level of reality to Bruce & Maud's lovemaking, which has relevance here, too.
Suspended from the force for having been caught spanking the monkey in the sink at his police station, Ron is estranged from his partner Det. Morris Brinson, played by Demond Reed who has many functions on the production besides acting. High concept is that the two cops are corrupt in different ways: Ron addicted to sex & drugs, while Morris is addicted to money.
There are many colorful characters along the way in this modern video equivalent of the '40s B-movie co-features, and Mark has cast them eccentrically. There are various softcore, hardcore and fetish porn actresses on hand, notably Teri Weigel as a dirty-mouthed whore working for Ron alongside plus-size pal Kelly Shibari; B-beauties Ashlie Rhey and Suzi Lorraine, respectively playing Ron's wife and the abused Marie; striking Sofiya Smirnova as Ron's mean ex-wife; a stunning new talent Anna Engels as his grown-up daughter; and a fascinating Ashley Judd-styled Janet Keijser as Ron's #1 informant. The cast mixes races and ethnicities for good measure, adding plenty of texture to the crosses and double crosses of the plot.
While entertaining to fans like me, the film does harbor a number of drawbacks, worthy of constructive criticism. First off, I do not like Mark's reliance on video shooting, and think if he were to take the next step, to paraphrase "once you've gone film you'll never go back". Despite the large cast, production values remain threadbare, with at least two scenes featuring transparent "scripted apologies", as when Mark doesn't meet his lawyer in her office or his police lieutenant at the station -they are filmed cheaply outdoors on "no set" to save money.
The central flaw here is obvious - I don't know how you can make a crime "thriller" without any action scenes. Even the micro-budgeted classic '40s Bs had all manner of action, and it would be hard to imagine a tough-minded chintzy Italian '70s cop opus with Tomas Milian or Fabio Testi not having some serious action set pieces. Baranowski eschews such thrills, and even the murder scenes are staged so tastefully the typical gorehound will squawk. In place of action we get tough talk and heated confrontations - not a viable substitute.
Another problem is that Ryli fans have already gone on record wondering when she will get meaningful roles on her own, not just directed by her hubby. In the case of MISTER DISSOLUTE, there is too much ego tripping evident by him, as Mark not only shows off his out-of-shape body but takes so many credits that even the most stuck-up Hollywood hyphenate would be ashamed to do likewise.
