Week Ending 9/8/23
Off to Toronto
I’m heading to Toronto as this publishes to hit my seventeenth TIFF. NORTH STAR, DICKS: THE MUSICAL, and THE TUNDRA WITHIN ME are all on the docket for today with BACKSPOT, FINESTKIND, DEAR JASSI, NEXT GOAL WINS, RUSTIN, and more coming throughout the weekend.
Before I switch over fully to the festival grind (you can follow along with my daily TIFF dispatches at this link), however, there are a pair of wild comedies in theatrical release right now that I was also able to catch. I didn’t necessarily love either as much as many others do, but both are highly worthwhile and entertaining.
What I Watched:
BOTTOMS
(now in theaters)
When the premise hinges on two lesbians, disliked by their entire high school (not for being lesbians, but for being “untalented and ugly lesbians”), who decide to start a girls fight club as a means of hooking up with the hot cheerleaders they’ve crushed on (but never spoken to) for years, you should probably assume things will get unhinged. Even so, I never imagined Emma Seligman’s BOTTOMS would be this insane. She and co-writer Rachel Sennott have taken every over-the-top R-rated coed comedy trope that men have been wielding for decades and pulled them so far out of the realm of reality that nothing is off-limits. Nothing.
It all starts with PJ (Sennott) dragging Josie (Ayo Edebiri) to their senior year pre-first day fair. It’s supposed to be their moment to finally declare their love for Brittany (Kaia Gerber) and Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) respectively and yet they once more end up getting in their own awkward ways when a prime opportunity presents itself. Cue a hilarious fight between Isabel and her football captain boyfriend Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine) wherein he starts whining and pouting to the point of parody becoming too generous a descriptor and all hell breaks loose as Josie—who offers Isabel a “safe ride” home—inches her car slightly forward to tap his shin. The result is full-blown BOYZ N THE HOOD melodrama.
Second-hand word of the incident and a white lie turned epic origin story courtesy of Hazel’s (Ruby Cruz) inability to understand sarcasm cause the plan to go in motion since being “bad girls” suddenly makes PJ and Josie appealing. The problem, of course, is that the other girls who join the “self-defense” club actually want to learn self-defense. With rape and domestic abuse running rampant (yet brushed off as a “cost of doing business” issue of life) and the rumored violence of a rival school coming to town for Homecoming, this idea could truly be empowering. If Josie and PJ had a single clue what they were doing.
You can probably guess where things go since Seligman follows the old 80s REVENGE OF THE NERDS formula to the letter, but you’ll still be surprised by the ways she gets there. For one, she’s cast Marshawn Lynch as history teacher Mr. G. He pretty much posits an open-ended question devoid of context and tells them to figure it out while perusing pornography. He’s therefore the perfect choice to become the girls’ club advisor under the assumption he’ll never show up. Then there’s Hazel’s proclivity for bombs, Jeff pretty much acting like an eight-year-old made a wish on a Zoltar machine to become eighteen, and Miles Fowler’s Tim doing all he can to sabotage the girls so focus can return to the football team (it never left them in the first place).
It’s all pretty low-stakes stuff built to provide the actors ample room for chaotic hijinks that they embrace whenever the opportunity arises. Every emotional beat is dialed to eleven and every hyperbolic notion about future events proves literal in its implausibility. Because the only consequences on-screen that matter are those of the heart: cheating, lying, and jealousy. Assault, theft, and even murder are just crimes that can be processed later, time permitting. And Seligman and company lean into this absurdity by constantly calling it out. Was that last scene too wild to be true? Yeah, the characters think so (and verbalize it) too.
This means that you do need to get on its wavelength to enjoy it to the fullest. BOTTOMS will alienate as many people by its tone as it will its subject matter. But if you do, you’ll be rewarded with a very game cast (Sennott and Edebiri are the draw, but Cruz, Galitzine, and Summer Joy Campbell steal plenty of scenes too) and a sneakily smart script that injects meaningful satire into the usually toxically male conventions of yesteryear’s shallow romps. It probably skews too crazy for my own liking (I know a lot of people who LOVED this film), but I had a smile on my face throughout and laughed out loud enough to become a legitimate fan.
- 7/10
ROTTING IN THE SUN
(now in limited release)
The energy during the first half of Sebastián Silva’s ROTTING IN THE SUN is electric—and that’s saying something considering the lead character (Silva playing a fictional version of himself) is suicidal. Despite the existential voiceover spouting an asinine line about depressed people not being suicidal because their inability to find something to live for also means they won’t find something to die for, we can tell he’s not really serious. And that belief only gets cemented when he almost drowns while in the process of trying to save someone else from drowning.
Co-written by Silva and Pedro Peirano, this incident seems to provide a new lease on life. Sebastián is shaking from the experience. He fought to survive. And now he might have earned a new friend in influencer Jordan Firstman (also playing a fictionalized version of himself). Except, of course, that the whole notion of an “influencer” being successful while he struggles to sell paintings and laments the fact no one has seen his movies makes him depressed all over again. Why does everyone know Jordan but him? Why does no one know him but Jordan? Is selling out the only way to give his life meaning?
Yes, it sounds depressing and hardly electric, but these questions are revealed against the backdrop of a gay nude beach littered with sex, penises, and laughter to make Sebastián so uncomfortable you can’t help but accept it as normal so he can be further lost on an island alone with his self-serious malaise. Jordan’s vibe is conversely infectious. He knows how ridiculous he is and embraces it because it makes him happy. So, when Sebastián inevitably tries to feel better about himself by tearing his new acquaintance down, it’s easy to believe nothing can hurt this guy. Jordan is invincible. He’s exactly what Sebastián needs.
And then everything grinds to a halt. Why? Because Silva and company decide there needs to be a plot and wield tragedy as the propulsive force to deliver one. As the synopsis explains, Sebastián disappears—the day before Jordan is supposed to stay with him in Mexico City to work on a new project together. No one knows what happened, but Sebastián’s friend/landlord Mateo (Mateo Riestra) and housekeeper Vero (Catalina Saavedra) are obviously hiding something. Is it their complicity in helping Silva “ghost” Jordan? Is it guilt for something they did or think they did? Is it all the ketamine in the air?
The fact that we know what happened is unfortunately the film’s downfall because so much of the second half hinges on Jordan trying to discover what we already know. While that’s not necessarily a problem on its own, his search can’t avoid becoming monotonous because him figuring out the truth would be the end of the movie. So, we’re made to pretend to care about his struggle while actually investing in Vero’s wild cover-up of said truth. But even that proves circuitous considering her hands are tied by current circumstances making it so Mateo or Jordan is always in the way. The drama is therefore less about Jordan’s peace of mind than Vero surviving without succumbing to a panic attack.
When ROTTING IN THE SUN is funny, though, it’s very funny. The dynamic between Silva’s prude and Jordan’s exhibitionist really sells the whole thing and I’d love to watch a movie based solely on how that partnership evolves. Sadly, this isn’t it since most of the runtime is about finding Sebastián. Firstman is great throughout, regardless—his frustration and fear growing palpable enough to smack himself loose of the carefree joie de vivre that initially appears to be his entire personality. But this is mainly Saavedra’s film. Her actions are what everyone else reacts to whether they know it or not. It’s a memorable performance that finds the humor in Vero’s horror.
Silva definitely has something here. It just doesn’t quite all come together before its tonal clashes find ways to undermine each other. That said, however, it’s worth a look. Its pieces might overshadow the whole, but some of them are so good that sitting through the rest becomes a necessity.
- 6/10
Cinematic F-Bombs:
This week saw ABANDONED (2022), COLOMBIANA (2011), MR. HARRIGAN’S PHONE (2022), R.I.P.D. (2013), and TICKET TO PARADISE (2022) added to the archive. The first of two DEEP IMPACT gifs last week proved to be gif #1000 and now last year’s Julia Roberts/George Clooney vehicle becomes title #500. It seems kind of perfect that it’s a film with one full-blown f-bomb and one censored cut-off. Funny that the latter is the one delivered with authority (see below). cinematicfbombs.com
New Releases This Week:
(Review links where applicable)
Opening Buffalo-area theaters 9/8/23 -
ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE at Regal Elmwood, Galleria, Transit & Quaker
JAWAN at Regal Elmwood, Galleria & Transit
MISS. SHETTY MR. POLISHETTY at Regal Elmwood & Transit
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3 at North Park; Dipson Amherst, McKinley, Flix & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge; Regal Elmwood, Galleria, Transit & Quaker
THE NUN II at Dipson McKinley, Flix & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge & Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Galleria, Transit & Quaker
Streaming from 9/8/23 -
HOW TO DATE BILLY WALSH – Prime on 9/8
ROSA PERAL’S TAPES – Netflix on 9/8
SELF RELIANCE – Hulu on 9/8
SENTINELLE – Prime on 9/8
SITTING IN BARS WITH CAKE – Prime on 9/8
KELCE – Prime on 9/12
MICHELLE WOLF: IT’S GREAT TO BE HERE – Netflix on 9/12
DONYALE LUNA: SUPERMODEL – Max on 9/13
FREESTYLE – Netflix on 9/13
EHRENGARD: THE ART OF SEDUCTION – Netflix on 9/14
ONCE UPON A CRIME – Netflix on 9/14
THEATER CAMP – Hulu on 9/14
Now on VOD/Digital HD -
THE ADULTS (9/5)
AMANDA (9/5)
“It seems like Wes Anderson has become the main comparison point people have been using to describe Carolina Cavalli's AMANDA, but I’d lean more towards calling it an arthouse DUMB AND DUMBER. And I say this with earnest affection.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
BIRTH/REBIRTH (9/5)
DESPERATE SOULS, DARK CITY AND THE LEGEND OF MIDNIGHT COWBOY (9/5)
PORTRAIT OF THE QUEEN (9/5)
STRAYS (9/5)
TIME OF MOULTING (9/5)
“Mertens is always juxtaposing the visual beauty of the mundane with the psychological dread of potential nightmare. [It] won't be for everyone as a result since she rarely (if ever, really) depicts what that potential can deliver.” – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
JOYCE CAROL OATES (9/8)
KLONDIKE (9/8)
From the press kit archive:
