Themes: Sibling Relationships, Fathers and Sons, Obsessive Quests
Main Cast: Robert John Burke, Bill Sage, Karen Sillas, Elina Löwensohn, Mark Chandler Bailey, Martin Donovan
Release Year: 1992
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A pair of brothers dodge the law while trying to locate their long-lost father in this third feature from independent New York filmmaker Hal Hartley. Robert John Burke stars as Bill McCabe, a failed computer thief who's just been doublecrossed by his girlfriend and partner. Vowing revenge on the next beautiful blonde he encounters, Bill meets up with his younger brother Dennis (William Sage), a philosophy student concerned about their father William (John A. MacKay). It seems the McCabe paterfamilias was a former major league shortstop who became an anarchist bomber in the 1960s, nearly blowing up the Pentagon. On the run for twenty-three years, William was recently caught by the FBI but escaped again. Based on information from their mother, the McCabes travel to Long Island, where William may be hiding. Along the way, the brothers meet the epileptic Elina (Elina Lowensohn) and her friend Kate (Karen Sillas), a beautiful blonde with whom Bill is instantly smitten. While Dennis figures out that Elina is somehow connected to William, Bill contends with Kate's ex-con husband Jack (Joe Stevens) and Jack's best friend Martin (Martin Donovan), both of whom are also in love with her. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
One of Hal Hartley's weaker efforts, it still has some amusingly surreal bits that no one else could have produced. In his earlier, highly stylized deadpan comedies, the director had explored the effect of suburban vacuity on characters whose alienation was often droll, and occasionally hilarious. Here, Hartley has dropped his postmodern characters into an emptier, more "universal" locale with less fortunate results. While, the director clearly insists on the artifice of his narrative and characters, the parody of melodramatic plot devices and ironically clichéd dialogue quickly become tiresome -- an attempt to make a Godard film without Godard's cataract of ideas. Still, there are things to like here, including an escaped nun who's desperate for a drag on a cigarette, an extended discussion of the role of Madonna in a capitalist economy, and what may be the most hilariously lethargic dance sequence in film history. As with Kubrick, the unique demands of Hartley's films lead one to assume he's gotten the effects he wanted from his cast, but the gifted Karen Sillas, who raises any scene in which she appears, seems hemmed in by this style of uninflected acting. As is often the case with Hartley, the film's mise-en-scéne is its most expressive and consistently rewarding feature. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
Chris Cooke - Vic; John A. MacKay - Dad-William McCabe, Sr.; Alissa Alban - Waitress; Margaret Bowman - Nurse Louise; Holly Marie Combs - Kim; Ed Geldart - Cop at Desk; Jeffrey Howard - Ned Rifle; Vivian Lanko - Nun; Matt Malloy - Boyish Cop; Marietta Marich - Mom (Meg); Mary McKenzie - Vera; Jo Perkins - Nurse Otto; James Prince - Frank; Richard Reyes - Security Guard; Joe Stevens - Jack; Bethany Wright - Mary; Damian Young - Sheriff
Credit
Therese DePrez - Art Director, Alexandra Welker - Costume Designer, Hal Hartley - Director, Hal Hartley - Editor, Steve Hamilton - Editor, Ned Rifle - Composer (Music Score), Daniel Ouellette - Production Designer, Michael Spiller - Cinematographer, Jerome Brownstein - Producer, Hal Hartley - Producer, Bruce Weiss - Producer, Ted Hope - Producer, Hartmann - Set Designer, Hal Hartley - Screenwriter
Burke and Sage play brothers Bill and Dennis, who reunite after their anarchist father escapes from the hospital.
Bill is angry after being double-crossed after a robbery by his girlfriend, and he promises to break the heart of the next woman he meets, while Dennis is fresh out of college and somewhat naive about the world. Dennis is set on finding their father, and Bill is broke, so they set off to find him.
Their motorcycle breaks down near a diner in the middle of nowhere, where they meet the beautiful Kate, mysterious Elina, and short-tempered Martin. They decide to stay for a few days and gradually become entangled in local life.
