Chronic Town

This was one of the very few films to shoot in my old home town of Fairbanks, Alaska and I even slightly assisted with the film being in local video production at the time. Many years later, I managed to track down a rare copy and have to say that, even having previously read the script, I was heartily underwhelmed. For one, most of the characters feel awfully hollow and unexplored. We get that the central character is a deeply lonely and disturbed abuse survivor who turns to abuse himself with alcohol while working a miserable job driving taxis, but things never really break the surface level. Disappointingly, they don't even broadly cover the film's potentially colorful environment.

While I cracked up seeing the actual "Eagle Cab" taxi company cooperate so fully with the production and supply a couple of their signature GMC Taxi vans, as well as see a few familiar Fairbanks landmarks (though not even to the same level INTO THE WILD did), I couldn't help but feel that this film barely scratched the surface. Fairbanks is one of the most surreal cities in America, subjected to the harshest climate you can imagine (at least in the winter, anyway), it's the nearest civilization to the vast North Slope oil and home to two major military bases and a university. It seems to me you could easily dig into the dreamlike desolation and depict the strange atmosphere of rugged frontier life, the massive imbalance of men-to-women, the hopelessness of the arctic winter, the isolation, and the loneliness of young men who live there. However this film gets sidetracked into a few dysfunctional relationships heavily weighted down by banalities and many scenes with no advancement to the plot (which is pretty thin).

While it's neat that they filmed a lot of interiors at a real Fairbanks bar, The Boatel, the film seldom leaves its environs. There's a section where the main character gets whisked away to a mental asylum but this section clearly wasn't filmed in Fairbanks and also happens to be where we see most of the film's bigger stars. Afterward, the film sadly doesn't really get out and do much exploration of Fairbanks or the local culture. It's a lot more focused on drama between a few characters which never really rises beyond the level of cliche and never feels authentic.

A pretty clear flaw is that the leading lady, a stripper, was written in the script as being overweight. They didn't seem to find a willing overweight actress for the part, but the one they did cast was a little too old to believably be a successful stripper, even in Alaska. Therefore, it would have been an easy rewrite to change her struggle from being overweight to being past her prime, but the filmmakers strangely stuck to their guns, I assume to be kinder to the actress. It unfortunately shreds whatever authenticity that they were trying to build. It doesn't help that none of the characters are that likable or relatable either.

Overall this film will likely get forgotten due to its very limited appeal and significant shortcomings. It does however hint at a much better film that someday really could explore what life is like in Fairbanks, Alaska bar culture, which had more than its share of drama and chaos from what I observed in my short time living there.

i didn't hate it but i didn't love it. thought the plot line was hard to believe...college girl getting a novel published dating a bugger eating, drunk, drug addicted cab driver? then moving on to his equally whacked out friend? And speaking of whacked----a mailbox? Come on. Really. As a fairbanksan, they could have left that thank you off the end. For a good, poignant, heartwarming story about the north and it's inhabitants watch 'The North' in french. Chronic Town is a Fairbanks I have seen but only a sordid corner of it. Insulting. Didn't like plot line. Didn't like some of the dialogue. Photography not so hot. Music fine.

This movie is a must-see for those interested in independent films. This unique story takes place in Fairbanks, and it reflects a side of this city that usually is hidden. This alternative vision is an accurate portrayal of human desires and the human condition. The plot is sordid but the black humor that reflects the darkness of Fairbanks is excellent.

For me it is a very peculiar film, it is definitely worth watching it. Exceptional sense of humor that tends to disregard societal taboos and rules, no matter what, sex, drugs, suicide, loneliness, dysfunctional families, and many other social issues, are shown as a part of the people life. This film is smart, not a dummy commercial movie. It remains me the cynical European cinema that can be seen in festivals like Cannes, introducing an element of self-deprecation and black parody of some antisocial personality that people in Fairbanks have, a very peculiar city that sometimes is a place that inspires the desire to leave. In the film, some people have particular worries about a life that does resemble hell, and they keep going, no matter what, they are doing to hell. Living this bitter illusion of a conformed life, they have to defend themselves against their past that can no longer be sustained. The indulgence of feelings is the alternative to their moral judgments. The movie also shows the kind of emotional wreckage that can result from a twisted family relationship.

Music is good; you will notice in the credits that local groups are playing most of the songs.

The casting has a very good quality. The acting is on a consistently high level, with a special mention to JR Bourne (Truman), his performance is remarkable.

The environment is perfect; you will notice that AK fashion is very special, duck tape in the boots, layers and layers of clothes... Don't miss other details like the plug in for the cars, the outhouse... plus some beautiful landscapes and very acid comments. There are some enjoyable moments, you are sure to enjoy.

The film was at Sundance Festival in the 2008 and it had very good reviews. When I watched the movie at UAF, people were laughing a lot (including myself) because there are some details that are hilarious. This film certainly is not showing Alaska, but it is certainly Alaskan. After the film there was a colloquium where one of the producers explained to us how they made the film in the Fairbanks climate. If living in Fairbanks is hard, you can imagine how difficult making a movie is, the average temperature was -30F, cars, cameras... everything freezes so fast... Also the light was a problem, they had like 4 light hours every day, so they had to be ready and fast to shoot the movie, they could not lose a minute. The low temperatures caused some things to be changed from the original script, for instance, the girl was supposed to be almost naked in the Murphy Dome seen, but she had to keep her clothes on for the -40 shooting day. Another last minute change (this was not because of the cold) was the last word that the grandma gave to the cab driver, originally was "Refrain", but in the last moment the director decided to change it to "???", however the director kept the word "Refrain" in some sense, you will see it in the grandma's room, on the wall.

Always keeping a good sense of humor, the film is a deep critique about many experiences of dejection of our culture, the failure of education and tolerance, how we are highly addictive, the incredible percentage of population that is lonely... it offers a new vision of life that reflects a sad situation in our reality, but also how we find the confidence to go forward.