By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Robert Machoian
Starring: Carl Kennedy | Clayne Crawford | Colt Crawford | Hix Crawford | Jordana Brewster
Country: united_states
Year: 2023
Running time: 96
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13603190/reference/
Brett says: “Be vewy, vewy quiet. I’m hunting toxic masculinity.
“Following up a powerful success of THE KILLING OF TWO LOVERS, director Robert Machoian returns with THE INTEGRITY OF JOSEPH CHAMBERS, which tangles itself up into several knots of frustration, making it—at the very least—a distant cousin to his previous work with that similar brand of exasperation. The style of the film visually is a very stripped down approach, allowing the action or drama to build and breathe rather than heightening emotions with an over-saturation of cuts and edits.
“Joseph Chambers (Clayne Crawford from THE KILLING OF TWO LOVERS) sells insurance. He has a home. He has a family. He has security and stability. He’s adjusting to a relocation to Alabama, a location familiar to his wife and her side of the family, but it’s an experience in which he’s very much on the outside looking in and one that appears to make him altogether uncomfortable. Thus begins the first stages of a metamorphosis of male overcompensation.
“The plot is as barebones as it gets. Joseph takes it upon himself to self-train and go on a nearby hunting trip in the woods, all in an attempt to prove (to no one in particular other than himself) he can provide for his family and survive in a sort of near-apocalyptic scenario. While there, the audience laces up the boots as well to experience the head-shaking ineptitude alongside Chambers. The title itself is a monument to great ironic overviews of a story. It’s fitting with the simple, straightforward concept, yet cleverly taking a jab at the title character that is right on the money.
“The static camera, single takes, and drifting tracking shots layer over an intense sound design and effective musical package. Together, those elements spark very mundane experiences into remarkable suspenseful and emotional turns. Some will be frustrated with the leaps in logic and stretches at times, but this adherence to a ‘that’s not what I would’ve done’ viewing doctrine will only set one up for disappointment in missing the other developing concepts. At its core, the audience is getting to see rationalization and decision-making operate in a performance sense, rather than just how it would look intuitively (which would be pretty bland and blank actually). This could be considered the artistic achievement amid the frustrations one might—and probably should—have with the plot itself.
4 cats out of 5
“THE INTEGRITY OF JOSEPH CHAMBERS is a film from director Robert Machoian and is also written by Machoian. It stars Clayne Crawford, Jordana Brewster, Carl Kennedy, Michael Raymond-James, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.”