From what I've seen of Kentucker Audley, two average films and now one average short by the name of "Ginger Sand," which serves as the unrelated epilogue to his film Team Picture, my thoughts reside in the regard that Audley seems to be the Joe Swanberg with nothing significant to say. This ostensibly sounds like an insult, but let's take it piece by piece; Audley makes films that are realistic in tone, lighting, setup, and acting. Everyone he has used thus far in his pictures is up to the challenges of naturally conveying a certain persona and functions appropriately in this cinematic subgenre known as "mumblecore." However, Audley seems to be too wrapped up in the listlessness of his characters, never approaching an observation on a convention, or denoting a real method behind his characters' madness. While I relish the idea of characters sitting around and talking to each other, that formula can sour quickly when there is either very little of personal interest being discussed or little to no realizations are springing up.
"Ginger Sand" is a perplexing little short focusing on Audley's David, who is having his longtime best friend Eric (Timothy Morton) and his girlfriend (Rose McCullum) the same weekend he plans to have his latest fling Brandi (Brandi Jo Perkins) over, in addition. This leads to a conflict of interest, with David stuck in that position we've all been in when we hang out with a large group of friends, or a couple stubborn ones, which is trying to please everyone but only succeeding in pleasing some.
If that's Audley's and co-writer Morton's commentary, I suppose I've found it. However, with only eight minutes devoted to these characters in their little situation, not much can be done given the dialog the characters have, and little in the way of personality can be fleshed-out given the narrow state of affairs. It's perplexing, indeed, but it's not wholly underwhelming, as some poor mumblecore films can be.
Starring: Kentucker Audley, Timothy Morton, Brandi Jo Perkins, and Rose McCullum. Directed by: Kentucker Audley.
