I hope that anyone coming in and watching Ramekin doesn't take the movie very seriously, you would be remiss if you do. First of all, the entire premise begs that you do not take it seriously. Most of the comedy of the film, is in characters total seriousness, and this dead pan seriousness is persistent throughout the film, it has some incredibly dry, absurdist, and has very dark humor. The very idea that somehow this girl inherits an apartment on the Upper West side over the rest of hr family is comical in its absurdity. Also, this film was made on a virtually non-existent budget, Cody Clark's films budget seem to range from $50 to $500. Yes, I do think that's important to understand before coming into any of his films. Stop comparing $500 films to $500,000, $5,000,000, or $50,000,000 films.
If there is one thing I have to give Cody Clark points for it is shear ambition. Even if his ideas don't always succeed completely, he always pursues ideas that are a bit off center and fully commits to them. Even in Cody's first and mostly normal movie "Shredder", there are some unusual aspects in that film's story that caught me off-guard. Even the most pedestrian film he's made, "Bed", has some surprises in the dialog and story. Ramekin definitely falls into the really strange category. The premise is so ridiculous and so bizarre, that that in of itself, is a selling point.
Unfortunately the movie does drag a little bit in some points just due to the nature of the setting and concept. Pacing is a minor issue here, so It is a good thing it is only 70 minutes with credits, it doesn't ever overstay its welcome. There is some build-up of tension, yet the film does drag in a few places, and I could see someone saying this would do better as a short film than a feature-length, but I'm actually glad it is despite its flaws, it allows for at least a little more exploration of the main character. There is also some strange audio, I don't know if it was dubbed over, but when Emily's friend is in the movie, things don't quit match up with her mouth and it took me out of the story, particularly in the first scene she's in. There are a few scenes, particularly with the ramekin, some of the noises(not talking), the audio for setting the ramekin down was far too loud.
Those issues aside, the script is very clever and creative in places, the cinematography while still utilitarian, is definitely better here than it is in some of his other movies, and the music on the whole is good and suits the movie. There were some clever ways to cover up product labels that I found amusing(people may not be aware if you've never been in entertainment, you just can show off product labels without permission). The acting is surprisingly good from the main actress, and I wasn't expecting much, so I was pleasantly surprised. Her lack of expression of emotion is very intentional and true to the story. The lead actress must have one of the creepiest smiles I have ever seen, but it doesn't come in until towards the end. While I wouldn't call this a traditional horror film, it definitely plays on horror tropes, especially stupid and moronic character decisions, and were this not a comedy I would probably be pretty angry, but since it is a comedy, I understand that it was very intentionally done.
There are quite a few intentional cringe-worthy moments in here, quite a few laugh-out-loud moments depending on your sense of humor. To find this film funny you definitely have to have a bit of a dark sense of humor. There are just a lot of different things thematically going on here, and particularly in regards to self-loathing vs. an over-inflated sense of self, instead of a healthy sense of self that isn't narcissistic. It's a deeper film than people are giving it credit for.
It's a flawed, but solid dark comedy, and it is clever enough and well-written enough, that it holds up despite those flaws.
God Bless ~Amy
