SXSW07–The Lookout/Mulberry Street

Another year, another festival. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for me this year. I’m so disorganized with the planning of this trip, though, that I’m completely clueless as to what’s playing. Oh well. I guess I’ll just go with the flow.

Good start to the festival, though. Let’s get right to it.

THE LOOKOUT

Chris Pratt (Joseph Gorden Levitt) was once a big hockey star at his Kansas high school. Then he had caused a horrible car accident that killed two friends and gave him head injury severe enough to do permanent damage. He has trouble remembering things that he needs to do (like use soap in the shower) and sequencing events in the past.

So he works in a local bank as a night janitor hoping to one day become a teller despite his mental handicap. He lives with Lewis (Jeff Daniels) a blind man who was put with him by the clinic that he goes to every week. He is in lust with his counselor (who wouldn’t be? She’s played by Carla Gugino) and lives with constant guilt over the accident.

Then he meets Cork (Aaron Berg). He graduated a couple of years before Chris and now wants to help him have a “normal life.” That normal life includes Luvlee (Isla Fisher) and a bank robbery.

A lot of people were saying that this movie reminded them of Memento. I don’t think it has too many similarities except for the memory thing. And even that wasn’t very close because it was a completely different ailment. But it was a pretty twisty story of someone overcoming a mental ailment in order to solve/undo a crime. And I really liked it.

Joseph, between this, Mysterious Skin and the near-brilliant Brick, is quickly becoming a big star in the indie circuit. He’s a very good actor who is getting some awesome roles lately. Who knew that the kid from “3rd Rock From The Sun” would end up being an indie favorite?

This is screenwriter Scott Frank’s (Out Of Sight, Get Shorty, Minority Report) directorial debut and he did a pretty damn good job. The script, of course, is very good. I can’t wait to see what he’s doing next. Hopefully, he decides to keep directing. I guess we’ll see.

MULBERRY STREET

Rats are taking over Manhattan and there doesn’t seem to be anything that anyone can do about it. It’s so bad that when the rats attack a human, that person starts to become a zombie-like rat-person.

As much fun as that sounds like it should be, this movie isn’t meant to be a fun romp in any kind of Peter Jackson-esque way. In fact, it’s a pretty serious affair, which is a little bit surprising. And, since the premise is so ridiculous, it’s hard to take its seriousness seriously. Director/co-writer Jim Mickle and co-writer Nick Damici even try to wedge a little bit of political commentary into the last 10 minutes or so.

It seems like they’re trying to go for some kind of Night Of The Living Dead gravitas, but they don’t quite make it. The acting pretty much across the board is nearly adequate and the writing is slightly less so. I don’t expect a whole lot from horror movies, serious or not. But I do expect to not be bored. And Mulberry Street didn’t meet that expectation overall. There were only a few spots that were exciting…not nearly enough to recommend the movie to even the most die-hard horror fan.

Just for fun, I looked up Mickle on IMDb. The only other film on the site for him is a short called The Underdogs. It’s about a small town that dogs take over. Hmmm. Running theme? Weird.