Fishing with Gandhi

This film has quickly become one of my top 3. Sure, it's filmed where I live, but the dialoge (when you can hear it--the sound quality's not great) is a crack-up throughout and the casual pace of the movie makes it fan-double-tastic. Up there with Clerks. Watch it a few times if you don't think you caught everything because it. is. worth. it. In response to a previous comment, the "rednecks" don't "torment" Danno, they help him re-evaluate his priorities and take a lighter-hearted approach to life. I think I'm going to have a sweatshirt made that quotes something from this movie...maybe "I'm your brother...Ghandi loves everybody" or "upside-down blood fountain." Very highly recommended!

This is one of the funniest character comedies I've ever seen. It's obviously a low-budget film with minimal plot but offers original humor you just can't find in Hollywood movies. The Reichmuth brothers especially are brilliant, portraying central California's unique brand of yokel. Meanwhile, the San Francisco based characters resonate perfectly, using humor to target the neuroses of post-collegiate city life.

I saw it at a San Francisco film festival, and the place was breaking up. See it if you can find it.

This movie is extremely funny. Don't listen to the people saying it's not. The movie isn't as hard to understand as people are saying, you just have to pay attention and turn the sound way up. But it's worth it. The thing that some people don't appreciate is that you're just thrown into the dialogue of Roy and Gil like being dropped on a desert island and you have to figure out where you are. When you listen to them, sure they're Rednecks and extremely stupid, but they have a certain quality. I mean, they are out there in existence getting by just like the rest of us, so who's to say that they're hopeless or anything. They have their own logic, it just takes a while to understand that because they say such ridiculous things that serve as proof that in a strictly booksmart sense, they're probably on about the second or third grade level. But don't feel sorry for them. As for the rest of the cast, they're equally brilliant. Giles and Stephen are great at getting on each others nerves, and you can see when Dano finally gets home that the best dynamic for them is the three man. Chris Culdoon is similarly a stroke of genius. Anyone who appreciates movies driven by interesting and humorous dialogue instead of big budget effects and inane and predictable dialogue and stories won't be disappointed.

If you're the sort of person who thinks of the WWF as soap opera for rednecks, or who finds the esteem with which Nascar is held by a certain segment of the population to be mildly amusing, you might love this movie. Imagine Beavis and Butthead as young adults, except that their cultural horizons have been formed by monster truck pulls, hoedowns, the timeless art of Pit Bull breeding, pickup trucks, corndogs, chewing tobacco, and you have an incomplete, but somewhat descriptive, portrait of Roy and Gill, the two main characters of this film. They're such stupid but affable good old boys.

Gill and Roy pick up a hitchhiker in their `brand new' (it's several years old, but to Roy and Gill, it's `brand new') Toyota pickup. The truck overheats every 20 miles or so, which gives the three time to get acquainted. The hitchhiker is longhaired hippie type who's returning from his mother's wedding. Roy and Gill think he's `touched in the head' at first, because he doesn't talk much (Roy and Gill talk completely hilarious rubbish non-stop); but they bond with him when they learn that the hitchhiker is returning from a wedding where his mother married his uncle. Roy and Gill immediately connect with the man, warmly offering him a corndog; and, instead of referring to him as `Led Zeppelin,' address him by his first name. It's a touching moment.

The unsuspecting hitchhiker undergoes a personal transformation as he travels with Roy and Gill. It's so heartwarming to watch. Why, at the outset, he has about as much force of personality as a mouse fart. By the end, he can mess with a person's head along with the best of them. His neck is much redder than it was at the outset, which, in this context, it a very good thing. And he has a gun.

I like this movie so much, I plan to buy it. It bent me sideways several times from sheer uncontrollable laughter, forcing me to rewind for lines I had missed.

This is a film that almost defies description; and it really has to be seen to be appreciated. It's a page out of real life, a portrait of Americana which, like life, is best when experienced first hand. It's `Fishing With Gandhi,' a biting bit of satire written by William Birdthistle, James Reichmuth, John Reichmuth and Gabe Weisert, and directed by Gabe Weisert. It's a film that grabs you by the ears and demands attention; about ten minutes into it, you get the feeling that you're sitting in a bar, eavesdropping on the conversation of the guys at the next table. And it's the kind of stuff you've heard every day of your life if you've ventured out your own front door for any period of time, especially in certain quarters of society, like maybe a place called the `Silver Dollar Saloon' or `The Roadhouse Bar and Grill.' Because these are regular folks, engaged in the kind of inane prattle that make up a good part of the conversations you're likely to hear in the above mentioned venues, or if you've ever worked in such places as a warehouse, on the dock at the post office, at a concrete factory or in a quarry. But you also get a taste of the flip side of that coin-- and which you find is not all that different-- in those involved with the likes of Investment Banking or simply cultivating a garden.

The story, such as it is, follows Danno (Dan Klein), who is hitchhiking from Seattle (where his mother has just married his uncle) to his home somewhere in California. When he hits Oregon, he scores a ride with Gil (John Reichmuth) and Roy (James Reichmuth), two good ol' boys with a pickup truck that breaks down every few miles, which is okay, because it gives them time to talk. Meanwhile, waiting for Danno at home are his roommates, Giles (William Birdthistle) and Stephen (Gabe Weisert), who, thinking Danno is probably on a real downer because of the Seattle thing, plan to cheer him up by throwing a pot luck for him upon his return, complete with streamers, which will give it all a festive look. Now, if only any of them had some friends to invite. And, more importantly, if they only knew when, exactly, Danno would be arriving. It's a complicated time for Giles and Stephen, who so want to do the right thing, while unbeknownst to them Danno is involved with two of the most uncomplicated guys you'll ever run into-- and from whom he'll learn much before he gets home, including what Gil and Roy refer to as the `Fishing With Gandhi.'

The portrayals of Gil and Roy are so authentic it's almost frightening; and whether you live in Oregon, or Iowa, or Texas or just about anywhere else, the chances are pretty good that you know these guys, or at least know someone who lives next door to them. And as they speak their little philosophies about things like diseases you can pick up from dogs, how many different ways you can die in your sleep (152) or what the best wrestling moves are (complete with a demonstration), you slowly begin to realize that if Beavis and Butthead were real and grown up, they would be Gil and Roy. Think about it. Ever known anyone who lived for that next bottle of beer and never had a conversation that didn't include something about Steelhead fishing or gutting an animal? Well, come on over and spend some time on the road with Gil and Roy. By the way, truck driving IS serious business. Just ask Roy; he's the one who flunked out of truckers school.

Switching gears, Weisert cuts to Giles and Stephen, men of a more refined palate, but whom (as we also quickly discern) do not have a clue. About anything. How the world works, how to conduct themselves socially, how to throw a pot luck. So there's two facets of society represented here, either/or to which you will be able to relate, or at least be able to identify. And the way Weisert puts you in the room-- or in the truck-- with these guys, it's like he picked them out, set the camera up in their proximity and just let it roll. it's banal, it's boring-- and it's hysterically real. If you try to analyze it, there's nothing here of real interest, and yet this film is absolutely engrossing; a true character study filled with insights into human nature that are bound to cause some reflection on the part of even the most jaded viewer. `Fishing With Gandhi' is that kind of film. It takes you down the road and says, `Here it is, brother,' for better or worse, take it or leave it. It's unique; it's an oddity; it's quirky; and it's definitely not for everyone. But for those who are ready for something completely different and want a challenge and some laughs, this one's worth checking out. It's all a part of the magic of the movies. I rate this one 6/10.