Some Weird Things Happen In "Small Apartments"

Small Apartments (2012)

Rated R for language

Starring Matt Lucas, James Caan, Juno Temple, Johnny Knoxville, Dolph Lundgren, James Marsden, Peter Stormare, Billy Crystal

Directed by Jonas Akerlund

The Story:

Franklin (Lucas) is in a bit of a spot.  His brother (Marsden) is in an institution. The landlord (Stormare) is dead on the floor.  And the neighbors (Caan and Knoxville) are wondering what is going on next door.  Lives are about to converge and change forever in the course of a few days in some run-down apartment complex.

Well, that was something.

A dark comedy, to be sure, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from this film.

After watching it, I'm still not sure!

:)

All of the names/faces are secondary/tertiary characters in the film.  It's Matt Lucas' film and you get sucked into his life.

A very weird life with a grown man running around in underwear and the occasional coat.

Seriously.

It's a movie I pondered whether I wanted to continue on past the 20 minute mark, but again, it was so strange, at that point I had to see what the heck was going to happen.

Naturally, all of the story lines converge in a finale that was both tragic and satisfying, depending on which character(s) you were watching.

I will give props for the staged suicide scene, it was pretty funny.

If you want to try something strangely different, here you go...


Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Nah.  It was a weird one. I've seen it, and time to move on.

You Don't Want to Get on the Bad Side of "Killer Joe"

I sure hope this wasn't based on a true story...

The Story:

Chris (Emile Hirsch) is in debt.  He hears about a contract killer named Joe (Matthew McConaughey) who will perform the service for a fee.  The plan is to kill Chris' mom, and the $50,000 insurance policy will go to his sister, Dottie (Juno Temple).  He gets his dad's (Thomas Haden Church) approval, and with his stepmom (Gina Gershon) in on it, it's a family affair.  The only problem, Joe wants the money up front: No money, no service.  Desperate, they give Joe a retainer:  Dottie.

Oh my.

This film is a train-wreck of epic proportions.  It is simultaneously disturbing, funny, scary, mesmerizing and insane... all at the same time.

Yet you cannot turn away.

McConaughey is a commanding presence, his laid back surfer attitude buried under a machine of man who is all business, all the time.

To talk more about the plot would ruin any of the twists and turns that the film takes to get to the finale, which is a very ambiguous finale by the way.

It's a dark film... I'll say that much about it.

Kinda creepy too.

You'll want to shower after you watch it...

: /

Final Grade: C
Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: No, I now have to try and erase the memories of this movie from my mind.  : )