Movie Type: Psychological Drama, Comedy of Manners
Themes: Suicide, Small-Town Life
Main Cast: Christian Slater, Robin Tunney, Michael Parks, Cherry Jones, Frankie R. Faison
Release Year: 1997
Country: US
Run Time: 78 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
A man brings new life to a small town by announcing that he's killing himself in this low-key comedy-drama that marked a significant change of pace for star Christian Slater. Julian Po (Slater) is a quiet, unassuming bookkeeper -- so quiet and unassuming, in fact, that most people hardly notice that he exists, as his life quietly slips by. Julian has few friends and little to look forward to in life, so one day he decides to commit suicide. One of his few ambitions in life has been to see the ocean, so Julian plans to take one final vacation in which he'll visit the seashore before doing himself in. En route to the coast, Julian's car breaks down in a small town so obscure that the name isn't even posted at the city limits. Julian's plan is to spend the night, get the car fixed, and move on, so he stops to get a room at Vern's Boarding House, where Vern himself (Michael Parks) informs Julian that he almost never has guests. In fact, the town gets so few visitors that most of the locals view Julian with tremendous suspicion, especially the Mayor (Harve Presnell) and the Sheriff (Frankie R. Faison). After his car disappears, Julian decides to tell everyone, while eating at the only diner in town, that he means them no harm and has not come to cause any trouble -- he's merely decided to go somewhere to kill himself. Suddenly, everyone's attitude towards him changes; at once expressing admiration for his determination and concern for his well-being, the whole town tries to leap to his rescue, and as they gently try to convince Julian to go on living, they gain a new lease on life -- especially Sarah (Robin Tunney), a beautiful but lonely woman who has fallen in love with the quiet stranger. Julian Po was the first feature film for writer and director Alan Wade; it was also released as The Tears of Julian Po. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
A strange little parable seen by almost no one, Julian Po has an accomplished enough cast to have gotten noticed, except that it doesn't have anything to say nor style to say it with. In fact, it's such a quiet little comment on the human condition that it seems to exist outside of time or place. The strange behavior of the meddling townspeople is supposed to add enough comedy to leaven the suicidal subtext, but it plays as patently false, a spectrum of self-consciously provincial attitudes for their own sake. Writer/director Alan Wade renders things in broad strokes, without concern for realism. That Po is followed around all day by a pack of children -- who practically step on his heels, waiting to see when he will kill himself -- is a typical example of Wade's symbolic heavy-handedness. When the adult townspeople follow their lead, which could be excused as tactlessness in youths, such that Po walks around on his aimless missions like the head of a comet, trailing gawkers, things cross from stiff to downright stagy. What we have here is a lesson-heavy allegory, not a narrative film. Wade deserves some credit for undercutting his simplistic approach with moral gray areas and untidy resolutions. These characteristics, however, barely save it from becoming an exercise in tedium. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Todd Thaler - Casting, Juliet A. Polcsa - Costume Designer, Alan Wade - Director, Jeffery Wolf - Editor, Allan Mindel - Executive Producer, Denise Shaw - Executive Producer, Patrick Williams - Composer (Music Score), Stephen McCabe - Production Designer, Bernd Heinl - Cinematographer, Jon Glascoe - Producer, Joseph Pierson - Producer, Susan Goulder - Set Designer, Scott Breindel - Sound/Sound Designer, Alan Wade - Screenwriter, Branimir Scepanovic - Book Author
