Movie Type: Psychological Drama, Paranoid Thriller
Themes: Obsessive Quests, Mental Illness, Mind Games
Main Cast: Michael Risley, Adrienne Shelly, Spalding Gray, Callie Thorne, Michael Rodrick
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 106 minutes
Plot
There's an old joke that goes "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean people aren't out to get you," and this independent thriller puts a new and frightening spin on that notion. Jackson (Michael Risley) has a good job with a computer firm and a solid relationship with his fiancée Kim (Adrienne Shelly), but that begins to change one day when Jackson notices things on his desk aren't where they're supposed to be. Jackson wonders if someone is playing tricks on him when he starts getting vaguely threatening messages in his e-mail, and he sees a television commercial advertising a new fragrance for women, Revolution #9, that he's convinced is filled with messages directed specifically at him. Kim is worried that something is wrong with Jackson, and urges him to see a psychiatrist, but Jackson is convinced that someone is determined to hurt him. After his fears cost him his job, Jackson is diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, but he refuses to believe it, certain that the doctors are in cahoots with whoever has been after him, and he tries to track down Scooter McCrae (Spaulding Gray), the director of the TV spot for Revolution #9, in a bid to find out the truth about what's been happening. Revolution #9 was written and directed by Tim McCann, and premiered (in rough-cut form) at the 2001 Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
A psychological drama masquerading as a paranoid thriller, Tim McCann's scrappy second feature seems at first a game attempt to update some of the themes of the Watergate era to the information age. Unfortunately, by the time Revolution #9 reveals itself as a schizophrenic's cautionary tale, McCann has indulged in so many first-person stock-thriller clichés, it's hard to take the drama seriously. The production's shoestring budget becomes apparent early on, as the increasingly unhinged Jackson (Michael Risley) starts to believe that everyone's out to get him - his co-workers, his nephew, even the director of a perfume commercial. But we aren't given enough distance from Jackson to see his delusions for what they are; a la A Beautiful Mind, his paranoia is made real through cheesy technique. When the movie switches to psychological-problem mode, the rug has been sufficiently pulled out from under the viewer to the point where the social-realist aspects -- the only thing that lends itself to Revolution #9's ultra-low production values -- become more of a cheat than anything. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Adrienne Shelly - Associate Producer, Michael de Avila - Associate Producer, Marshall Grupp - Casting, Tim McCann - Director, Tim McCann - Editor, Gill Holland - Executive Producer, Douglas J. Cuomo - Composer (Music Score), Elise Bennett - Production Designer, Tim McCann - Cinematographer, Tim McCann - Producer, Tim McCann - Screenwriter
