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Reviews
I Work (2012)
Are we what we think we are?
'I WORK' tells the story of a man suffering an existential crisis, and his housemate taking it upon himself to discover hidden truths about him. The film revolves around Pete (Tom Bridger), a timid and somewhat submissive person with a keen work ethic, obsessive compulsive tendencies, and lack of social skills. Pete lives and works with Mark-O (Michael Henry), a confused individual who presents himself as an anarchist with no connection to the world he lives in, but secretly seeks acceptance. As if losing his job wasn't enough for Pete to come to terms with, Mark-O accidentally chops his little finger off, exposing wires and oil in place of flesh and bone. Either out of perverse fun or genuine support of his friend, Mark-O suggests Pete look into his estranged father and when the suggestion is met with resilience, Mark-O decides to hire a private investigator (Charles Cromwell). As Pete grows to accept his reality and becomes more liberated, Mark-O sinks into his own existential crisis.
'I WORK' takes the concept of Blade Runner, replacing themes of equality and paranoia with self discovery and social expectation, and setting itself in the present rather than a distant, technologically-advanced future. Whereas the replicants have rebelled against their programming and want to live and be treated fairly, Pete's ambiguous android character just wants things to be as they were, leading his dull, everyday life, probably without the knowledge he's different. Other inspiration is evident in Mark-O, who could easily be a Kevin Smith character – in fact his attitude is nearly identical to that of Randal's to Dante's predicament in Clerks II, mixed in with a touch of Jay's humour. There's even a Spaced-esq tirade of insults aimed at Pete and Mark-O's co-workers.
Its not all referential though, in fact I WORK is mostly original, and a worthy film in its own right. The writer's humour is his own blend of visual gags, awkwardness, and quick diversion, his social commentary an indictment of the politically right-leaning, and of the West's attitudes in general.
Some of the visual gags don't work too well this time, one example being urine splashed on a shoe being hard to spot, and another being spoiled by a door opening too late after the punchline was delivered ('You look like a butler'). Pete's awkwardness throughout provides constant amusement, his idea of fun amidst Mark-O's own, immature, ideas is suitably juxtaposing, but the awkwardness is pushed to the limit by Mark-O's photo and a dangerously dark paedophile joke. There's a touch of slapstick in there too: eyes popping out and being hit by doors. Its a really funny film throughout and I don't want to share my favorite jokes, to prevent spoiling them, but it makes this review seem negatively critical without.
The acting is surprisingly good all round, with exceptional performances from Cromwell, playing his character of a hand to mouth PI superbly, and from James Henry, who plays the manager that fires Pete with ample character. Bridger does an excellent job of conveying unease and a transition from woe to contention; he makes for an excellent android through his bodily expression (not to say he's a robotic actor). During an exposition dump in the final third of the film, Alex Holland and Andy Howlett play off each other as scientists or engineers (in a garage, a reference to Primer?) really well, with Holland providing one of the most relaxed and conversational performances in the film, bested only by Rob Smith's phenomenal representation of Pete's troubled father.
From a technical point of view, the film looks and sounds like a quality production, exhibiting the best editing I've seen in a Michael Henry production, an excellent and appropriate soundtrack from Sebastian Moody, and a wealth of location shooting. That soundtrack is aptly futuristic and suggestive of robotics – at times, it reminds me of the Portal 2 soundtrack, which can only be a good thing for such a film, and I think it shows the strength of Moody's output. There's plenty of synth, and bass 'wub wubs' to reinforce the android theme and youthful cast. Yet its not all up tempo, with suitably heart-full pieces for the more sensitive scenes.
Intimacy does feature throughout I WORK, but there are a few notable scenes where the heartstrings get pulled. Towards the end of the film, Mike-O realises his loneliness and the futility of his lifestyle, in which Henry gives an emotional performance, all the while sitting next to a puppet. In another scene, Mark-O berates his racist, homophobic, self-entitled mother (Sasha Drennan); the intent is quite literal, but I can't help but feel bad for the mother character at how her son speaks to her, and makes her feel unloved.
In the end, I WORK isn't provocative, but it is interesting, funny, and entertaining; it succeeds as a comedy film, it's a decent watch, and it has been excellently crafted for such a small budget. If nothing else, I WORK should serve as a prime example to independent and prospective film makers of what's possibile if you own some basic equipment and have the drive to do well. It's good to see Mike return to comedy, and I WORK shows real progression from the more serious Ennui (2009) and Restless Dust (2010), though retains the thoughtful writing of both.
Narcissist (2013)
Where do you draw the line between self-confidence and perhaps possessing an overly- inflated sense of self-worth?
Where do you draw the line between self-confidence and perhaps possessing an overly- inflated sense of self-worth? Lincoln-based independent film company Quandary Productions offers creative insight into this question with their fourth feature film production, the aptly named Narcissist.
Shot over 4 weekends and with a production budget of £2000, Narcissist is an anti-romantic comedy that follows the friendship of aspiring actors Leonard (Michael Henry) and Nathan (Tom Bridger) as they delve into the art of picking-up women and collecting a stack of victory phone-numbers in the process.
Written, directed, edited and produced by starring actor Michael Henry, Narcissist is an interesting exploration of what happens when the human psyche goes AWOL. Despite the title of the film, Narcissist perhaps impresses most in how it, ironically, has a very down-to-earth script that plays out as very genuine and natural in its content.
When we first meet main character Leonard, he has recently split up with his girlfriend and is struggling to launch his acting career. Due to Leonard's incredibly uncharismatic persona and the perhaps unfortunate geeky connotations conjured from his name, one also may begin to think that there is no hope for him. Humour and the opposite side of the personality-wheel comes along in the form of quirky best-friend Nathan, who, unlike Leonard, often pursues a string of successful one-night stands and also appears to be successful in his acting career. Unhappy and understandably hurt from the knowledge of his ex-girlfriend moving on from their split, Leonard decides to attend a master-class for picking up women and convinces a reluctant Nathan to come along with him.
The art of picking-up women is definitely not one to be underestimated in this 92 minute feature, as will be proved by the enigmatically named pick-up guru 'Enigma'. Leonard is taught by the guru to basically craft an entirely new persona for himself and to stand-out from the crowd in terms of dress-code and personal grooming. As Enigma wears a bright green suit-jacket and a white Frank Sinatra-esque hat, let's hope he takes no fashion inspiration from him. In somewhat Lord Sugar in The Apprentice boardroom style, Enigma repeatedly asks a deflated Leonard why he is actually there to see him and then, upon Leonard's response, angrily tells him that he doesn't care about his life story. This tough-love approach inspires a montage of Enigma mentoring Leonard in his quest to reinvent himself, a segment that would be reminiscent of ladies-man mentor Ryan Gosling in Crazy, Stupid, Love if Enigma were perhaps 30 years younger, stylish and of course had the ability to make young women swoon with the drop of a t-shirt.
As Leonard continues to mold himself into Lord of the pick-ups, he progressively gains a lot more attention from women, however he also progressively transforms into more of a budding megalomaniac as his one-night stand quota steadily continues to rack up. Due to the majority of Leonard's attention now going into accumulating phone-numbers, fluffing his hair and learning more from guru Enigma, it's unsurprising that his relationship with best friend Nathan begins to suffer. Despite the obvious shift in Nathan and Leonard's friendship, Nathan's days of one-night stands now appear to be over as he begins to develop a relationship; however he does have an awful lot of awkward conversations with random by- passers about the apparent halt in his acting career.
Commendation should be given to the script as being highly impressive in how it conveys a very natural and unforced dialogue throughout, which is somewhat tricky given the dramatic premise of the story. The script also gives life to some well-executed character arcs, proving that the characters are certainly not one-dimensional in both personality and purpose. With a small main cast, the acting is equally consistent and is even impressively understated at times. At first glance the character Nathan could appear to serve as comedic cannon- fodder, however actor Tom Bridger in fact begins to incorporate great personality and likability to his character with every scene he is featured in.
The direction featured in Narcissist is also impressive in how it includes a large amount of static shots that are able to serve incredibly well in conveying the thematic intensity of the film through allowing the script to take centre-stage with no quick camera movements or distractions. Also, the camera-positioning of some silent shots can be seen as an intelligent reflection of the character's moods, in particular the character Leonard who appears to spend a large amount of screen-time either standing or sitting in a very dark and brooding manner. The soundtrack, created by the conveniently named Sebastian Moody, works well to provide a dark and somewhat sinister underscore that runs throughout the film. Neither overbearing or non-purposeful, Moody's soundtrack certainly compliments the gritty psychological nature of Narcissist and is also impressive in it being all original music created by the composer.
While there is no doubt that Narcissist is a thoroughly interesting and enjoyable take on modern romantic interactions and human relationships, its dialogue-heavy script and intense psychological subject matter could perhaps be seen as too overbearing for some casual film viewers. However, due to the script in fact being heavily impressive itself and also the talented cast featured throughout, Narcissist is certainly a feature you should consider indulging yourself in.