SXSW2006–Jumping Off Bridges/Danny Roane: First Time Director/Spoon/Echo & The Bunnymen

JUMPING OFF BRIDGES Austin is a pretty tight-knit town for filmmakers. All Austin filmmakers tend to rally behind all other Austin filmmakers. And, for the most part, that’s a really good thing, It’s good to have a sense of community. That’s why we have the Austin Film Society. That’s why we actually call it the “Austin film community.”

But there should be a limit. Don’t tell everyone that something is good when it’s not just because it came out of your town. A few years ago there was a film called Master Of The Game. It got a huge press write-up. Everybody thought it was great. It was a story of Nazis and Jews, so it was deep.

Unfortunately, it was also poorly acted, badly written and–just not very good. But no one had the guts to say so at the time. Even walking out of the Paramount, a lot of people were saying things like, “Um. Yeah. It was great. I really liked it. Um. Beautiful.” But no one really meant it.

That problem has eased up a little bit, but there is still a big tendency to glorify our community members.

Take Jumping Off Bridges, for example. This movie has been in the works for a few years. There were news stories done on it at least two years ago. Now it’s finally finished and the end results are–not so spectacular.

Zak (Bryan Chafin) is trying his best not to allow his mother’s depression to infiltrate his life. He and his best friends Eric (Glen Powell, Jr.), Grove (Savannah Welch) and Lindsay (Katie Lemon) jump off of bridges to pass time. Well, three of them do. Lindsay is a little scared of it, so she just hangs out with the other kids.

But things take a tragic turn when Zak’s mom kills herself. Zak spirals into a lonely life of shutting everyone else out. His dad (Michael Emerson) tries to go on, but it’s a constant fight with Zak. And Grove and Lindsay try to help, but he won’t let them. Eric can’t face Zak anymore, so he just drops him from his life.

All very interesting ideas and characters. Unfortunately, writer/director Kat Candler’s decision to surround these characters with overly melodramatic shots of electrical cables undermines any of the power of the characters and their situations. (Seriously, there is a 30-40 second tracking shot of an electrical cable that makes us think “Is he sitting in the bath tub with a hair dryer?” No. He’s just listening to music while painting his room black. DAMMIT!!) It also doesn’t help that none of the acting is very good except for Michael Emerson. The kids all either over or under act. Bryan, who has gotten some real work before (he was in The Patriot) mumbles his way through his role without even the emotion of a teenager. (Of course, the constant sound problems couldn’t have helped his mumbling.) Kat has worked with him a few times, so I’m surprised that she couldn’t get a better performance out of him this time.

Finally, towards the end when there is a final blow-up with dad, Bryan starts to actually act. And he’s not bad! He just needs some emotion written into his role. (In all fairness, I thought the teen angst angle was played up pretty well—with the exception of the over-baked black walls thing. Teenagers have wild mood swings that were pretty well written here.)

Then, at the end of the movie, we’re treated to a musical montage scene that’s not one song long, but TWO SONGS LONG!! It’s fucking ridiculous. Scenes of Bryan walking alone and the other three friends driving. Good. We could have gotten the point after a minute. Instead we’re watching for five. (Or was it 30?)

This movie really needed an edit. And a few acting lessons for the actors. And a couple more re-writes. Instead, we get a half finished melodrama that is apparently going to be one of the next big indie films pushed for Austin. I wanted to love it. I didn’t.

DANNY ROANE: FIRST TIME DIRECTOR

Andy Dick is, quite possibly, one of the most annoying men on the planet. He was funny on “News Radio,” but it’s hard to really think of another time he’s been really funny. It doesn’t help that he’s absolutely true to his name.

So, why the hell would I choose to go see this movie when there was every indication that I would hate it as much as I hated Pauly Shore Is Dead? Probably because I like train wrecks when they involve soon to be dead celebrities.

And, boy, was this a train wreck. Not nearly as bad as the Pauly Shore movie (but NOTHING can be that bad), but still not so good.

Danny Roane (Dick) is a has-been. He was a big hit on a tv show where he had a shctick. He was the clumsy office worker who said things like, “What’s eating you?!” and got big laughs. What no one knew at the time was that he was drunk the entire time he was on set. It all came out, though, on the Jimmy Kimmel show when he peed on Jimmy and Frankie Muniz. A bunch of stints in rehab later, Danny is ready to tell his story. And there is a documentary crew to show us the whole meltdown.

Andy is pretty good at playing the overly broad drunk. He flails around, knocks things over, slurs his words–basically he’s everything you think of as a stereotypical drunk. It’s not real, but it’s kind of funny at times. But what’s actually funny is the surrealism and the celebrities who are able to make fun of themselves. James Van Der Beek sucks, but he’s really good at making fun of himself. He’s got no shame and that’s cool. And the whole Hitler (“My brain feels like it’s made of Hitler.”) musical number is amazing. Almost worth the price of admission. Almost.

If you hate Andy Dick, this will be his death knell. If you like him, you’ll love it. If you’re lukewarm on him like I am, you’ll find a couple of jewels and move on with your life. If you’re easily offended–stay far fucking away.

After these two movies it was time for me to actually see some music. Gotta try at least once every year, right?

SPOON

I like these guys. They’re pretty good Bowie-esque pop/rock and they claim Austin as their home. Cool.

But their show sounded JUST like the record. There was absolutely no difference. I could have just sat at home and played their cd at top volume. Why bother?

ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN

This is one of those bands that I never really knew anything about while I was living through the 80s. I had heard a couple of songs, but I never thought too much about them. I just thought they had a pretty weird name.

Then Donnie Darko came out. “The Killing Moon” ended up being one of my favorite songs on the soundtrack and I started to pay a little more attention to Echo. When I heard that they were coming to SXSW, I knew I had to check them out.

Damn, I’m glad I did. They were fucking awesome! Every new band who wants to sound like an 80s band should take a lesson from these guys. They haven’t changed a bit, and that’s a good thing.

Of course, I didn’t know all of the songs, but I decided that I wanted to start collecting their albums so I could hear them all again. Somebody said that they played one of their new songs (Siberia is the new album), but I couldn’t tell it from the old ones. They haven’t tried to change their style to “fit with the times.” Of course, they also don’t really need to. The times changed to fit with them.

They did a pretty cool version of The Doors’ “Road House,” but it won’t make me forget Jim and the boys. Certainly not bad, though. Probably one of the best Doors covers I’ve ever heard.

But the show capper was, of course, “The Killing Moon.” It was a little bit slower than the record, but just as perfect. THIS is how you rework a classic. Don’t turn it into a rap. Don’t bring out the strings if you didn’t have them on the record. Just change it a bit so that we’re not listening to a cd, but keep the same mood and feeling. Absolute rockin’ perfection.

If Echo comes to your town, see them. Believe me, you won’t be disappointed. In fact, you’ll probably end up being a big fan.