Jason says:
“Comedy’s a delicate thing. The intent of FORT TILDEN is probably that
the audience kind of likes its main characters despite them being sort
of ridiculous, and yet, the same traits that elicit that reaction can
also lead to the opposition reaction: That these characters are
frustratingly stupid, but also unsportingly easy targets. Sadly, even
though the movie has moments that lean toward the first, I found it was
more often mired in the second.
“The two girls in question are Harper (Bridey Elliott) and Allie (Clare
McNulty), two roommates in their mid-twenties living in a trendy
section of Brooklyn. Allie has signed up for the Peace Corps and is
about to have a tour in Liberia. Last night, though, they meet a
couple of cute guys (Jeffrey Scaperotta & Griffin Newman) and
arranged to meet them at the beach. Getting there just turns out to be
way harder than they thought.
“There are many funny ways for a person to be stymied trying to get
from point A to point B in a city and it’s outlying environs; I’ve
found dozens just trying to get to work every morning. And while it’s
certainly fitting for these characters in particular for some to be
self-sabotage, the sheer number of times Harper & Allie are
diverted or delayed because they saw something shiny or just decided to
make half an effort somewhere does not necessarily add up to laughs
because a pair of selfish breasts are reaping what they sowed. Instead,
it often just says that to Fort Tilden is unimportant, even
for the characters, and if they don’t care about making it to the
beach, why should we? It’s not like filmmakers Sarah-Violet Bliss and
Charles Rogers give a whole lot of heft to any other themes, such as
how Allie & Harper are such close friends about to separate or that
they have stretched an extended adolescence to the breaking point.
There is a certain amount of effort made at the latter, both via
nominal voices of authority on the other ends of their phone calls and
where the last act goes, but it’s weak and not particularly earned.
“On the way, there are gags, and while pointing at self-centered young
people being ridiculous and laughing can often feel like attacking a
straw man even when it does have some truth to it, there are actually
some good bits in here. When Harper & Allie find themselves squared
off against someone just as ridiculous, whether it be an overreacting
group with a stroller, a drug dealer with whom they have some apparent
history, or their other ‘friends’, the combined absurdity is generally
enough to make the scene work, and there are some jokes thrown in where
other movies would coast (like a 911 call that isn’t just calm and
professional) that are nice surprises. Rogers & Bliss just go to
‘stupid lazy Williamsburg trust-fund hipsters’ too often, and that just
isn’t funny enough on its own.
“For all that their characters are often underwritten, it should be
noted that Bridey Elliott and Clare McNulty are pretty good here, and
certainly worth keeping an eye on in the future. Elliott has real
skill at making Harper blithe and often unpleasant in a variety of ways
without making the character grating; you can see how, despite often
being selfish and immature, one might like having Harper around for
more than her daddy’s checkbook and that there is a real human being in
there (aside: would anyone that age actually be using a literal
checkbook?). While she’s showing fairly constant medium-intensity
wastage, McNulty turns her game up as the end approaches and Allie
starts to emerge from Harper’s shadow and maybe start considering her
situation. She manages awkward introspection well enough that the
character doesn’t have to talk things out, and it’s not far from that
to being the embarrassed butt of some of the movie’s better running
gags. It’s hardly their fault that they were saddled with a picture
that doesn’t give them much chance to make their characters interesting
until too late.
“It certainly seems to be within their capacity, and once the movie is
over, what the filmmakers were trying to accomplish is clear and
neither the idea nor the cast is the problem. The wacky antics just
aren’t funny enough, and the process of maturation that they should be
covering isn’t meaty enough to make up for it. 2.5 cats
“Seen 27 April 2014 in Somerville Theatre #3 (Independent Film Festival
Boston, digital)” |
