"That's a nice-a donut."

Wednesday, June 28, 2006


The Brown Bunny (2003)

You might recognize The Brown Bunny because of its, well, less than stellar reception at the Cannes Film Festival a couple years ago. The movie was also lambasted for a raunchy (and very realistic) oral sex scene. It is definitely a good example of the maxim "there is no such thing as bad publicity." For if not for creator Vincent Gallo's infamous festival showdown with film critic Roger Ebert, you almost certainly would have never heard of the movie (and I sure as heck wouldn't be reviewing it right now).

Gallo also stars as Bud Clay, a motorcycle racer. Much of the film is actual a road trip, as Bud makes his way from somewhere in New Hampshire to his next race all the way out in California. Along the way, in addition to the pretentious stretches of silence and nothingness, Bud pathetically interacts with a few women and longingly thinks about his girl Daisy (Chloe Sevigny), who he may or may not be dating anymore. In fact, he is a complete loser with women, making some inexplicable choices. At one point he picks up a woman at a store and begs her to come to California with him. She agrees for some reason, they stop at her place to get some things, and he dumbfoundingly drives off while she's inside. Eventually Bud makes it to California and has his fling with Daisy in a hotel room. The end.

The movie becomes a little intense over the last ten minutes, but by that point you are so bored and with so little care for the main character, that it doesn't really matter what the heck happens. This is preceded by long periods of dead silences, brokered only by occasional music or other cars passing by. They are weighty silences, perhaps to be sentimental, and certainly as an attempt to be artistic, but end up being just plain boring. There is very little in the way of substance.

And most of the shots that Gallo frames are quite head-scratching too. Much of the road portion of the movie takes place behind his shoulder, even going so far as to show dirt and grime on the windshield. Other shots show only portions of his face, and numerous shots are blurry - giving sort of a gritty 70s vibe, but for no discernible reason. The movie has since been recut and significantly shortened since the Cannes showing (and the aforementioned Roger Ebert has even given the new look a mildly positive review). I can't even imagine how bad and excruciating the original version must have been. It's not terrible, but it's far from good - the road trip ultimately ends up turning into a road to nowhere.

The Verdict: D+.

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