By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hal Hartley
Country: united_states
Year: 2015
Running time: 85
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2925768/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Chris says: “Hal Hartley’s gotten the whole gang back together to complete a trilogy also comprised of HENRY FOOL (1997) and FAY GRIM (2006): Thomas Jay Ryan, Parker Posey and James Urbaniak all reprise their now iconic (in indie film circles, anyway) roles, while many past Hartley regulars (Martin Donovan, Karen Sillas, Robert John Burke) also appear. Fortunately, going back to the well has a positive effect, as this is probably the director’s best effort since HENRY FOOL.
“The film’s title character is Fay (Posey) and Henry’s (Ryan) now 18-year-old son (played by Liam Aiken). With Fay in jail and Henry having long disappeared, Ned lives with a foster parent, Rev. Daniel Gardner (Donovan) and his family. Following his release from a witness protection program, he sets out to find and murder Henry as revenge for his mother going to jail. After visiting his uncle Simon (Urbaniak), now a famous writer/aspiring comedian holed up in a New York City hotel, he meets Susan (Aubrey Plaza), a mentally unstable young woman who is stalking Simon. She uses Ned to get to his uncle, but it turns out she has ties to his parents as well. The mismatched pair end up on the other side of the country together, pursuing one common goal but with disparate motives.
“NED RIFLE is a Hartley film through and through. It improves on FAY GRIM because he mostly emphasizes what we liked about these characters in HENRY FOOL instead of placing them in ever-more convoluted situations as the last film did. Ryan and Urbaniak clearly relish their characters, and even Posey, whose screen time is limited to phone calls from and visits in prison, makes a sparkling impression. “However, the film’s real attraction is Plaza. Not only does she effortlessly fit into the Hartleyverse, she’s also a singular screwball heroine, immediately likable and always just a little bit off (and often more than that). It’s too bad, then, that Ned himself is such a sanctimonious dud. While Aiken tries hard, his part just isn’t as fleshed out as the rest of the cast. NED RIFLE is good enough to convince longtime Hartley fans that the director hasn’t entirely lost his mojo after all, but despite the title, there’s a reason (beyond star recognition) why the film’s poster features Plaza and not Aiken. 4 cats
“NED RIFLE screened at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.”