Jason says: “WILD
CANARIES is not quite THE THIN MAN, but it’s better at that sort of
thing than any other recent movie that leaps to mind. The combination
of murder mystery and screwball comedy is a tough enough not to crack
that not many people seem to be trying, but this one uses an impressive
cast to breathe a lot of life into a matter of life and death.
“Our amateur sleuth is Barri (Sophia Takal), a young woman who hasn’t
quite seemed to grow up completely. Money being tight, she and her
fiance Noah (Lawrence Michael Levine) have a roommate in Barri’s friend
Jean (Alia Shawkat), even as landlord – and Noah’s poker buddy – Damien
(Jason Ritter) is showing it to potential buyers, while the film
distribution business Noah works at with ex-girlfriend Eleanor (Annie
Parisse) is on shaky ground. When their eighty-year old neighbor does,
Barri suspects her son Anthony (Kevin Corrigan) of foul play, and while
Noah is quick to poo-poo that idea, Barri has time on her hands to
snoop.
“Murder can be a grim business, but it’s also a great way to give a
story some structure: Something kicks the story off, the characters
are always doing something to get to the resolution, and there is a
definitive end point. While all that’s going on, you can throw in a
bunch of stuff about how Jean may have a crush on Barri, Eleanor might
have an ‘and Noah’ clause to her attraction to girls, and Noah might be
having doubts about sticking with Barri, and if you do it right, it’s
not only more fun because this being a thing people talk about as a
secondary thing while handling other business makes them seem much less
egocentric than when it seems to be their only concern. Plus, even
when if the plot doesn’t completely dictate how the romance shakes out
by who’s left standing, there is still going to be a sense of
resolution, even if a lot of the same variables from the start are
still in play.
“Writer/director/co-star Lawrence Michael Levine manages that balance,
giving the relationship material the room it needs without ever leaving
the audience thinking ‘hey, remember the dead person?’. It’s fun and
seldom overwrought or mean. The murder mystery element is the same
way; it’s simple enough to share the movie, twisty enough to be
interesting, and frequently silly enough to be funny. A lot of movies
like this can have major issues with shifting moods as they switch
between A-story and B-story, but it’s never much of an issue here;
Levine really does do a very good job of finding the fun spot of the
story while also taking things seriously enough that we care how things
turn out.
“Having a cast of characters the audience mostly likes played by a fine
roster of actors helps; the supporting cast, in particular, is chock
full of great character actors. Alia Shawkat, for instance, is
expertly dry as Barri’s best friend; she’s got a great way of seeming
to have herself together and then doing something that shows that she’s
almost as goofy as Barri is. Annie Parisse winds up playing the most
apparently stable among the quadrangle, but with a quick wit that keeps
Eleanor from ever coming across as dull. Kevin Corrigan and Jason
Ritter play types that they are fairly familiar with – the sketchy guy
and the weirdo artist – but make them work as part of the ensemble.
“Interestingly, Levine and his wife (and frequent collaborator) Sophia
Takal actually play the main characters a little broader. Levine gives
himself a lot of painful-looking slapstick to serve as a bit of a
counter to how Noah might mainly be seen as just being a jerk to the
sweet Barri, and it works as often as not. Takal, meanwhile, gives
perhaps the most cheerful performance I can remember coming from the
actress (even when playing sexy, there’s often something blunted about
her). She makes the immaturity at the center of the character funny at
times, and while it’s easy to let that rub the audience the wrong way,
she does a nice job of channeling it into having Barri feel everything
strongly and make that felt even when the audience might be inclined
not to take her seriously.
“It’s a good group, telling a pretty fun story, with a lightness that
is a lot harder to achieve than it looks. It’s also something of a
step up in terms of production values for folks who have often worked
much closer to the DIY end of independent film than the studio end, and
I hope that means that whoever eventually picks it up gives it a chance
to get into theaters. 4.5 cats
“Seen 26 April 2014 in Somerville Theatre #5 (Independent Film Festival
Boston, digital)” |
