Post by Dale on Jan 16, 2011 12:49:45 GMT -5
Route 66
I’ve been meaning to get to this for a good while now. Hanelle is one of my favourite writers, has a knack for delivering weird twists and judging from the teaser, “Route 66” looks to be the weirdest of all. So I’ve been excited to read it and have been waiting for just the right time to give it my full attention.
And having finally found that time, read the thing through, I sit here with no idea what to say. How in the blue hell do you review something as obscure, as off the wall and straight up crazy as this? I think we all picked up on the David Lynch vibe in the teaser, and it’s even greater in the full work. And Jester brought David Fincher into the equation in his review as well and it’s hard not to see the similarities there too. This film has a wild plot that is held together through one unifying theme which is the subject of pretty much every scene from the opening.
“Route 66” follows the night of Percy Turner who has been fired from his job as an odour tester. He meets Winston and after an accidental shooting, he finds himself going off the deep end to put it mildly. The theme that brings Route 66 together is essentially the question of “What would you do, if you could break from the shackles of society and act without consequence?” And it’s brought up time after time; first with the Bartender’s murder, followed by the Cop and the neighbours. Not to mention the various sex acts, S&M play that Percy engages in and witnesses. There’s also hints of the Devine Comedy smattered throughout which help move the narrative along.
The dialogue was strong, the pace was quick and the whole thing just flew by, much like Percy’s night I’d wager. The twist ending, which I’ve come accustomed to with Hanelle films did not disappoint and left me all the more baffled as to what I just read. I’d love to hear Hanelle talk about the thought process that went into this film and just what on earth she was smoking when she wrote some of it.
There’s very few faults to pick with “Route 66” in my mind, in fact only one thing that was mentioned that I’d have liked to have seen more of is the odour testing job and Percy’s boss. The thing that prompted all of the events that we see never really had an explanation being brought up several times. Perhaps Percy shooting his former boss would have been something worth including.
Overall, much like Jester, I don’t fully understand it, and in a sense I don’t really want to. I think grasping this film, would lessen its mystery and appeal. Yet at the same time, I want to know what the fuck it was all about, because my feeble mind feels like its melting trying to grasp this thing. It reminded me oddly of “Southland Tales” where the deeper I got into it, the more confused and intrigued I was by it. And I think that’s what “Route 66” will be remembered as; an intriguing mind fuck. One well worth it at that.
*** ¾ out of ****
I’ve been meaning to get to this for a good while now. Hanelle is one of my favourite writers, has a knack for delivering weird twists and judging from the teaser, “Route 66” looks to be the weirdest of all. So I’ve been excited to read it and have been waiting for just the right time to give it my full attention.
And having finally found that time, read the thing through, I sit here with no idea what to say. How in the blue hell do you review something as obscure, as off the wall and straight up crazy as this? I think we all picked up on the David Lynch vibe in the teaser, and it’s even greater in the full work. And Jester brought David Fincher into the equation in his review as well and it’s hard not to see the similarities there too. This film has a wild plot that is held together through one unifying theme which is the subject of pretty much every scene from the opening.
“Route 66” follows the night of Percy Turner who has been fired from his job as an odour tester. He meets Winston and after an accidental shooting, he finds himself going off the deep end to put it mildly. The theme that brings Route 66 together is essentially the question of “What would you do, if you could break from the shackles of society and act without consequence?” And it’s brought up time after time; first with the Bartender’s murder, followed by the Cop and the neighbours. Not to mention the various sex acts, S&M play that Percy engages in and witnesses. There’s also hints of the Devine Comedy smattered throughout which help move the narrative along.
The dialogue was strong, the pace was quick and the whole thing just flew by, much like Percy’s night I’d wager. The twist ending, which I’ve come accustomed to with Hanelle films did not disappoint and left me all the more baffled as to what I just read. I’d love to hear Hanelle talk about the thought process that went into this film and just what on earth she was smoking when she wrote some of it.
There’s very few faults to pick with “Route 66” in my mind, in fact only one thing that was mentioned that I’d have liked to have seen more of is the odour testing job and Percy’s boss. The thing that prompted all of the events that we see never really had an explanation being brought up several times. Perhaps Percy shooting his former boss would have been something worth including.
Overall, much like Jester, I don’t fully understand it, and in a sense I don’t really want to. I think grasping this film, would lessen its mystery and appeal. Yet at the same time, I want to know what the fuck it was all about, because my feeble mind feels like its melting trying to grasp this thing. It reminded me oddly of “Southland Tales” where the deeper I got into it, the more confused and intrigued I was by it. And I think that’s what “Route 66” will be remembered as; an intriguing mind fuck. One well worth it at that.
*** ¾ out of ****
