Finally I saw a movie at the FFF that I
loved.
 |
| Pettyfer & Freedson-Jackson |
Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolkstein's
The Strange Ones is not a strange film, really, but the people in it certainly have done (and are doing) something strange.
The Strange Ones is a mystery. A boy – 13 or so, I'd say – and a grown man in his late thirties are seemingly on a road trip or running from the law or something. We don't really know what is happening or what has happened, and it is unclear what the two men's relationship actually is. They keep saying that they are brothers, but it is sort of clear from the beginning of the film that they are not.
The Strange Ones is expertly crafted and rewards close watching. Its mysteriousness is captivating, and if most of the time I was wondering what was going on, I also sincerely enjoyed this bafflement. The characters in
The Strange Ones are compelling and fascinating; I
wanted to know what was going on with them. This has everything to do with the excellent central performances, by James Freedson-Jackson and Alex Pettyfer, as well as the superb scripting and filmmaking by Radcliff and Wolkstein, who adopt just the kind of David Gordon Green / Daniel Patrick Carbone style and pace that I love (lush, rural, humid). More than anything else,
The Strange Ones is a fascinating homage to
Deliverance, visually quoting the film several times and updating and modifying its themes in clever, sensitive ways.
I am not going to say anymore because I don't want to give it away, but if you're interested in puzzles, you'll be interested in
The Strange Ones.
By the end of the movie I was pretty sure what had occurred, but after it was over my companion and I could not agree on what we had just seen. He was wrong and I was right, of course, but the viewer must watch very very carefully.
The Strange Ones is beautiful.
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