Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Jacob Sewell | ... | Bunny Boy | |
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Nick Sutton | ... | Tummler |
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Lara Tosh | ... | Girl in Car |
Jacob Reynolds | ... | Solomon | |
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Darby Dougherty | ... | Darby |
Chloë Sevigny | ... | Dot (as Chloe Sevigny) | |
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Carisa Glucksman | ... | Helen |
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Jason Guzak | ... | Skinhead #1 |
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Casey Guzak | ... | Skinhead #2 |
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Wendall Carr | ... | Huntz |
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James Lawhorn | ... | Cowboy #1 |
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James Glass | ... | Cowboy #2 |
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Ellen M. Smith | ... | Ellen |
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Charles Matthew Coatney | ... | Eddie |
Harmony Korine | ... | Boy on Couch |
Constructing this film through random scenes, director Harmony Korine abruptly jettisoned any sort of narrative plot, so here we go: Solomon and Tummler are two bored teenage boys who live in Xenia, Ohio. A few years ago, a tornado swept through it, destroying more than half the town and killing the same amount, including Solomon's father. The film, from there, chronicles the anti-social adventures these two boys have. These include sniffing glue, killing cats, having sex, riding dirtbikes, listening to black metal, and meeting a cavalcade of quirky, bizarre, and scary people. These include a man who pimps his mentally ill wife to our anti-heroes, three sisters who play with their cat and practice becoming strippers, a black midget fending off the sexual advances of a troubled man (played by the director Harmony Korine), a 12-year-old gay transvestite who is also a cat killer, Solomon's mother who seems to be the only glimpse of sanity, two foul-mouthed six-year olds, and most ... Written by Anonymous
Well...
I spent a small part of my childhood not too far away from Xenia, Ohio and a large part of it in the South. I can't say I ever found myself in such a screwed up place as this one, but I know one thing -- if I did I would certainly want to go back and document it! Then I'd be perfectly happy if another tornado came by and leveled the whole place.
Watching this movie was like looking at those years through some really distorted mirror and finding recognizeable nuances of personality in it. And I can't say much of that was appealing. Neither was this movie, which is not to say the characters weren't compelling, because some of them certainly were. Give me an impenetrable glass bubble and a camera and I'll take my place in this grotesque circus. I like to watch, but I don't want to get dirty. Everyone in this movie was dirty...
That spaghetti scene and "I want a moustache dammit!" were worth the price of admission. I do have one suggestion, however -- it either should have been more contemporary or more distant. At first it wasn't clear if the action was taking place shortly after the tornado or long after it. But when the albino woman mentioned Pamela Anderson, that nailed down a time period for me. It would have been more effective as a period piece (sometime in the 70s) where the audience looks back on a really messed up town; or it could have been filled with more contemporary references which places a really messed up town not too far away from where you and I live.