This film really flew under the radar which is too bad because if pretty great. Jay Masonek an alienated artist from the social and economic superstructure, or the grid as he calls it. Hoping a change of scenery will help get him out of his funk, Masonek's cousins Jeff and Eric invite him to crash in their Hollywood apartment. Of course, once he has moved in, they start to wish they had never suggested it, particularly Eric. Yet, when he is not skateboarding or scanning Craig's List for scammer casting notices, Masonek pursues a genuine quest for divine guidance.
As director, animator, editor, and half a dozen other things including co-star, Eric Leiser creates visually striking interludes rendered with a combination of stop-motion animation and time- lapse photography. Symbolically evocative, they often communicate the film's themes more dramatically than the mumblecorish live action scenes. While Leiser can create a distinctive fast talking lizard, his characters are not strongly delineated. The manner in which Masonek and his cousins discuss their personal relationships with God is impressively frank and free of irony. Leiser is an enormously talented filmmaker, who simply needs to tighten-up his screen writing or take on a collaborator.
