I was really really really looking forward to finally seeing this one, and was somewhat disappointing to find that the story is weak and the pacing even weaker. Patrick Deaware is fine--he actually reminded me a bit of various other actors here (he kind of looks like Vincent Gallo from Buffalo 66 and The Brown Bunny here but there's also a little bit of Johnny Depp here if you squint a bit) Honestly the film is a lot slower then it should of been--and i feel like once the big turn of the plot happens--there's not much else to keep the viewer interested in what else might happen (ie--there's not much else to the story even though the film keeps going on as if there is) I liked the little dances that Deaware's character keeps doing--and i like how it becomes clearer and clearer that he's not just a likable eccentric--he's actually certifiably insane as the film continues on--but even so you're kind of with him through most of the film---at least i was---and that's not a bad thing for a film noir....after all you're supposed to be on the main character's side--and as the film kept going on, i liked that that notion becomes more and more difficult to sustain---really makes you question the notion of why we're supposed to like the main character in most movies like this---which is a neat trick for a movie to pull but the story is just so empty after a while i was just happy to latch onto anything that i could just to maintain interest in what was happening.
I very very much loved Andreas Katsulas's performance as Tikedes here---and if anything wish that he had been given even more screen time then the handful of scenes that he has here---Love his entrance in the film with him running head first into the glass door of a telephone booth that Deaware is holding himself in to keep from being killed by this great bull of a man. Its quite a character entrance! This is i suspect one of those films that should a proper region 1 DVD release ever come out a great cult of film lovers will gather around and admire as a real true pitch black noir--but i couldn't quite bring myself to love it as i felt the pacing of the thing was just too sluggish for me to really get into, especially in the second half when i was eagerly awaiting the other shoe to drop so to speak. Would that the entire film worked as well as say the first 15, 20 minutes of the film--which had me so ready for anything that the fact that not much happen during the rest of the film is just that much more disappointing.
I very very much loved Andreas Katsulas's performance as Tikedes here---and if anything wish that he had been given even more screen time then the handful of scenes that he has here---Love his entrance in the film with him running head first into the glass door of a telephone booth that Deaware is holding himself in to keep from being killed by this great bull of a man. Its quite a character entrance! This is i suspect one of those films that should a proper region 1 DVD release ever come out a great cult of film lovers will gather around and admire as a real true pitch black noir--but i couldn't quite bring myself to love it as i felt the pacing of the thing was just too sluggish for me to really get into, especially in the second half when i was eagerly awaiting the other shoe to drop so to speak. Would that the entire film worked as well as say the first 15, 20 minutes of the film--which had me so ready for anything that the fact that not much happen during the rest of the film is just that much more disappointing.