In "Lansdown", we're in "Fargo" territory. You know what that's like -- a conniving, morally obtuse husband, a trio of idiot hit men, the wrong victim and everyone more concerned with tonight's softball game than a couple of inconvenient corpses.
Writer-director-editor Tom Zuber does manage to win a few genuine laughs in this low-budget movie, made with a no-name cast. But he fails to study those films from which he has borrowed. The Coen brothers' "Fargo" may have been a pitch-black comedy (to say nothing of possessing pitch-perfect timing), but it had a moral high ground: a pregnant police chief who believes murder is not only illegal but wrong. In "Lansdown", no one could care less.
The deadpan tone of this one-note film will find a handful of enthusiasts in specialty venues. Certainly there is talent on display, most notably D.W. Warren, who delivers a delectably goofy performance, and Zuber himself for his stylistic control. But even at 75 minutes, there is too much dead space. And Zuber falls back on too many repetitive gags rather than expanding his dark comedy into more imaginative realms.
Jake (Paul Shields), a New Jersey criminal attorney, is in a funk when surveillance by a low-life criminal named Gustaf (Warren) confirms his suspicions that his gorgeous, young wife, Lexi (Jennifer Carlson), is having an affair with a dimwitted construction worker. He asks Gustaf to kill the worker. But Gustaf refuses with one of the script's better lines: "I can't kill anybody. It's against my parole."
Instead, he talks Jake into hiring a trio of criminally dumb ex-cons. They botch things so badly that the wrong person is killed, and their ringleader dies. The rest of the movie devolves into frantic efforts to clean up the mess, which only makes things worse.
The movie's main gag concerns every character's inappropriate response to these crimes. The softball teammates of the victim all worry about who will play his position at the game tonight. The girlfriend (Jesse Schein) of one of the meathead assassins (Chris Baran) broods: "You're going to end up just like my father!" Or as Gustaf says about any adverse event: "That sucks".
Stylistically, the film is reminiscent of "American Beauty" in its satirical, long-shot perspective of suburbia. There is even one musical motif highly reminiscent of "Beauty"'s that falls maybe three notes short of plagiarism.
But neither the writing nor the actors -- with the exception of Warren -- are accomplished enough to give these characters much personality. Everyone's comic imagination runs out way too early.
The 16-to-35mm blow-up is surprisingly not bad. Other technical credits, while reflecting budgetary constraints, are solid.
LANSDOWN
Outrider Pictures
Table Round Films
Credits:
Writer-editor-director: Tom Zuber
Producers: Jorge Gonzalez, Matt Lendach, Jeff Zuber, Tom Zuber
Executive producers: Ryan Smith, Dave Thatch
Director of photography: Ly Bolia
Production designer: Jorge Gonzalez
Music: Atli Orvarsson
Cast:
Jake: Paul Shields
Lexi: Jennifer Carlson
Hector: Chris Baran
Gustaf: DW Warren
Benny: Marc Krinsky
Jessica: Jesse Schein
Pat: Chris Stewart
Gendhi: Patrick Louis
Running time -- 75 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Writer-director-editor Tom Zuber does manage to win a few genuine laughs in this low-budget movie, made with a no-name cast. But he fails to study those films from which he has borrowed. The Coen brothers' "Fargo" may have been a pitch-black comedy (to say nothing of possessing pitch-perfect timing), but it had a moral high ground: a pregnant police chief who believes murder is not only illegal but wrong. In "Lansdown", no one could care less.
The deadpan tone of this one-note film will find a handful of enthusiasts in specialty venues. Certainly there is talent on display, most notably D.W. Warren, who delivers a delectably goofy performance, and Zuber himself for his stylistic control. But even at 75 minutes, there is too much dead space. And Zuber falls back on too many repetitive gags rather than expanding his dark comedy into more imaginative realms.
Jake (Paul Shields), a New Jersey criminal attorney, is in a funk when surveillance by a low-life criminal named Gustaf (Warren) confirms his suspicions that his gorgeous, young wife, Lexi (Jennifer Carlson), is having an affair with a dimwitted construction worker. He asks Gustaf to kill the worker. But Gustaf refuses with one of the script's better lines: "I can't kill anybody. It's against my parole."
Instead, he talks Jake into hiring a trio of criminally dumb ex-cons. They botch things so badly that the wrong person is killed, and their ringleader dies. The rest of the movie devolves into frantic efforts to clean up the mess, which only makes things worse.
The movie's main gag concerns every character's inappropriate response to these crimes. The softball teammates of the victim all worry about who will play his position at the game tonight. The girlfriend (Jesse Schein) of one of the meathead assassins (Chris Baran) broods: "You're going to end up just like my father!" Or as Gustaf says about any adverse event: "That sucks".
Stylistically, the film is reminiscent of "American Beauty" in its satirical, long-shot perspective of suburbia. There is even one musical motif highly reminiscent of "Beauty"'s that falls maybe three notes short of plagiarism.
But neither the writing nor the actors -- with the exception of Warren -- are accomplished enough to give these characters much personality. Everyone's comic imagination runs out way too early.
The 16-to-35mm blow-up is surprisingly not bad. Other technical credits, while reflecting budgetary constraints, are solid.
LANSDOWN
Outrider Pictures
Table Round Films
Credits:
Writer-editor-director: Tom Zuber
Producers: Jorge Gonzalez, Matt Lendach, Jeff Zuber, Tom Zuber
Executive producers: Ryan Smith, Dave Thatch
Director of photography: Ly Bolia
Production designer: Jorge Gonzalez
Music: Atli Orvarsson
Cast:
Jake: Paul Shields
Lexi: Jennifer Carlson
Hector: Chris Baran
Gustaf: DW Warren
Benny: Marc Krinsky
Jessica: Jesse Schein
Pat: Chris Stewart
Gendhi: Patrick Louis
Running time -- 75 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/19/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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