Klepto (2003)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Thomas Trail

Writers:

Ethan Gross (writer)
Thomas Trail (writer)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

Plot:

In Los Angeles, Emily Brown is a kleptomaniac and addicted in pills that misses her father and is having...

Plot Keywords:

Shoplifting | Kleptomanic

Cast

Meredith Bishop	...	Emily
Jsu Garcia	...	Nick
Leigh Taylor-Young	...	Teresa
Henry Czerny	...	Ivan
Michael Nouri	...	Dr. Cohn
Michael Irby	...	Marco
Kirk B.R. Woller	...	Jeffries
Michael E. Rodgers	...	Sandy Hauser
Mark Chaet	...	Pharmacist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hannah Castelluccio	...	Female Voice
Teala Davies	...	Shoplifter
Jeff Garvin	...	Jimmy the Store Clerk
Edward W. Gately	...	Voice of Zytrexor
D.J. Harner	...	Banker
Al Israel	...	Watch Salesman
Igor Jijikine	...	Thug #1
Grace Korkunis	...	Young Emily
Dorian Lopinto	...	Ms. Hall
Tori Meyer	...	Gretchen
Roman Nichols	...	Thug #2
Scott Satenspiel	...	Jason Klaritch
Kansas Skye	...	Nick's Daughter
Teressa Tunney	...	Nick's Ex-Wife

Runtime:

USA:81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Nucleus Films LLC

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Emily enters "Bernstein's" department store to retrieve the purple backpack, she passes a sign that clearly bears the Sears logo.

Masterfully crafted!

I too have seen KLEPTO and consider the listed review from Austin to be wildly inaccurate. KLEPTO is a self-assured directing debut by a director that has a bright future. So what if he chooses to tell a story through multiple angles? Must every film review of every film begin with the Hollywood formula, specifically that a film must follow a singular protagonist through a specific set of paces that we have all become so sensitive to that we can predict them in our sleep?!

Tom Trail has the good sense to take the O.C.D. psychological disorder and frame it in a real life situation, make it feel as though it could be the basis for those noises you hear coming through your own apartment wall, the life experience of a neighboring stranger you've never seen...His "Emily" as played by the juicy Meredith Bishop with conviction, despite her having to remain frail and unhinged, falls prey to the wiles and incliniations and ultimate scheme of the devious Security Specialist (watch for Jsu Garcia to become the next Latin male superstar in the Benicio Del Toro mold!). It's not at all "heavy handed" as one reviewer previously reported. It's a dance of sorts, the way "Nick" inserts himself into Emily's life right as her neurotic mother comes to stay for an unwanted visit.

For me it was the fascinating and visually strategic lines of two people paths coming together, becoming inextricably intertwined, that was so fun, so involving. This succint (the flick is a brisk 84 minutes) and astute character study breaks out of the gate at race horse's pace and never lets up! The photography, the smaller supporting roles, the music (some of it performed on a classical piano even!), and one of the best single take "long shots" of the year (eat your heart out Scorsese!) all approximate the material to the perfect degree. This film is like a complicated meal, one with many ingredients, all vital to its final finish as a dish...nothing is peppered in here with the "heavy hand" suggested by the previous reviewer and the result? Delicious and full of depth.

Find this film, whatever it