Diggers

"Diggers" plays like the bad parts in a full season of a one-hour television drama series all mashed together than a well-edited, gripping feature. Sadly, the only digging going on here is literally for clams, and coins. The score (original music by David Mansfield) also screams "This guy is our friend, so we didn't have to pay for the rights. He's an insurance adjuster now."

The strong point of "Diggers" would be the honesty of the characters; aimless working class Long Islanders who live for sex, drugs and clams(?). But they are almost too human; thus, not always terribly interesting. Many of the scenes fall flat in this film, and leave one wondering why they weren't edited out, or better yet, why they were ever filmed to begin with.

The writer (Ken Marino), and director (Katherine Dieckmann) don't seem to be interested in maintaining any sort of theme, or thread to the story. Vaguely, it all revolves around the death of Hunt's (Paul Rudd), and Gina's (Maura Tierney) father; a clammer who made a decent living before the "South Shell" dynasty came into town. His death (hardly) functions as a catalyst for Hunt's friends, who are also a younger generation of clammers. Hunt's father symbolizes the death of the full-time, breadwinning clammer, and this is supposed to evoke an onslaught of adjustments.

The problem with all this supposed "change" is nobody seems to have any difficult decisions to make. Should we sit around, whine about the new corporation in town, and do drugs all day; or try to do something functional with our lives? Gee, I'm not sure; let's pop some pills, and think about this.

Also, if a writer or director chooses to make a character-driven film shouldn't the characterss be involved in complicated, and mysterious relationships? Sixteen year olds have friendships of this magnitude, but you'd think thirty-six year olds would have evolved into something deeper, perhaps something capable of evoking discomfort, or at least bigger change. But not these guys, not much has changed for them since high school, and so the decisions they're faced with are as complicated as that of a recent college graduate who functions at the pace of a sedated turtle. The tagline is "No one can drift forever," but you can't help but wonder if they're sure about this.

La Doublure (The Valet)

A cartoonish telepic with would-be riveting characters that bore us with silly antics, and shallow portraits. I can enjoy the occasional slapstick scene thoroughly, but when a film (such as this one) lacks overall depth, it just becomes disengaging.

Francois Pignon (Gad Elmaleh) is a sorry valet deprived of confidence, and status. Emilie (Virginie Ledoyen), his girlfriend, is a bookstore owner who is too wrapped up in her own life to take Francois seriously. Their fathers are involved in a "reverse" doctor/patient relationship where Francois' father, Andre Pignon (Michel Jonasz), doctors the doctor (Michel Aumont) who is apparently senile, and has all of his patients give him shots, take his temperature, and whatnot. A fine example of the irreverent moments that, at times, take over this film.

Near simultaneous scenes of supermodel Elena (Alice Taglioni), and powerful Pierre Lavasseur (Daniel Auteail) having a covert date; and Francois and Emilie having a rushed lunch show that heartbreak does not discriminate, and everyone is a loser sometimes.

Then, of course, the gimmick that the whole plot is based around is put into motion, and Pierre finds himself in a bad situation when his uberwealthy wife, Christine Lavasseur (Kristin Scott Thomas), sees photos of Pierre, and Elena together. Christine begins questioning him, and spying on him, but never shows any signs of remorse. This is odd considering she seemed quite happy with her marriage prior to this finding.

And the manipulation begins! But too bad all of it lacks creativity, and just leaves us craving some sort of unexpected plot twist, or character arc. None of that happens, just a series of predictable events follow that may only make one compelled to force a chuckle just to go through the motions.

Directed and written by Francis Veber.


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Everything's Gone Green

This is a tale of moral corruption that turns wayward in a way that does benefit society. Just before deeming it another whiny, slacker film, Ryan (Paulo Costanzo), gets involved in some identity altering putrefaction. "Everything's Gone Green" introduces us to Ryan, a boy-man asleep on the couch, snuggled up with a sleeping bag while the tv plays an exercise video that seems to be geared toward women. He awakens from his slumber to find that his girlfriend, and her barbarian of a brother are moving him out. His now x-girlfriend explains that her therapist explained that Ryan refuses to "unleash his inner warrior," and she's looking for more from life than Ikea furniture, and weekend trips to auto-malls.

Ryan goes to work, where he undergoes a review by a less-than-pleased supervisor who printed out several acquisitions discovered during their "server maintenance" period. Ryan's gloomy, redundant poetry is telling of his attitude toward his job, and life in general. His supervisor suspends him but gives him the option to come back if he decides to go to therapy, and "they" decide he's okay. As he's cleaning out his office, his mother calls to tell him they've just won 4.3 million dollars, but his father can't find the ticket.

Ryan takes a colorful bike ride to his parents house. Aliens from the "Mars, Texas" shoot have invaded his ride in the most pleasant way possible. He rides through this childlike atmosphere in Vancouver, and it seems that his life is going to work out.

At Ryan's parent's house is where his stodgy, business-first brother Kevin, his recently fired Father, and his somewhat passive Mother are introduced. Ryan calls the Lotto Bureau after the ticket is found and finds out they have a losing ticket, but is offered an interview for a job that recently opened up.

He gets the job at the Lotto Bureau, where he interviews people who have just won big time. An amusing montage of ecstatic people from all walks of life give the film a goofy kitsch quality. A beached whale, a feng shui loving boss, a Chinese-American women; her ritzy, "golf course designer" boyfriend, her grandmother and Mandarin classes are all new parts of Ryan's life; and this when things begin to get strange.

The delusion that money brings happiness is the theme in the film. From Spike to Furry Creek (and eventually Ryan) it seems everyone's motivation is to collect massive fortunes at any cost. But what are they willing to sacrifice? And how many times have we seen this before? But (yes but) what makes this film interesting is that it is taken away from the usual brunts, the stockbroker, the lawyer, the CEO, and puts the responsiblity of the negative affects of capitalism into the hands of regular, everyday people.

Get rich quick schemes, a grow op that Ryan's parents get involved with, and the Japanese mafia all contribute to this mish mash of a story that some how works. Its tagline "A new kind of comedy" is pushing it a bit, but nevertheless, it's way better than the last Canadian Indie film that I saw. It's entertaining, yet seemingly aimless; thus, a successful reflection of slacker life, and not fully predictable. The character arc is one that we can all probably relate to but have seen a few too many times. But still, you should watch it for its artful scenes, strong performances, and witty situations. Plus, it's very well written, as Douglas Coupland is a seasoned novelist, and this is his first stab at a screenplay.

Whole New Thing

Previously homeschooled Emerson Thorsen (Aaron Webber), a 13 year-old author and playwright, may have an age appropriate Harry-Potter-inspired image (without the mousy disposition), but his problems are more of this world as well as less sensational - the latter perhaps not being to his benefit. His excellent verbal and written communication skills aren't enough to convince his mother, Kaya (Rebecca Jenkins), that his anemic math abilities shouldn't be honed by someone presumably better fit for the job, like a public school teacher.

Hubristic by nature yet lacking the experience, and accoutrement that only Junior High can offer, Emerson gets himself into a bit of a pickle when he (privately) intimates a crush on his new English teacher, Don Grant (Daniel MacIvor), without actually thinking about the circumstance involved. In some ways this endearing yet troublesome escapade would seem to wreak havoc on Don Grant's life, problem is it doesn't. This decision of not opting for small-town drama, or pedophilia could be viewed as taking the high road by many, but a lack of satisfaction emerges when you realize the cheap shots haven't been supplemented by top-shelf concoctions.

Though the characters are somewhat engaging, the story fails to shed any sort of light or dismay on the initial set-up. Emerson's parents, Kaya and Rog (Robert Joy), undergo a marital crisis due to Rog's ongoing disinterest in sex. Emerson's English teacher, Don, has depressing sexual encounters with other closeted men at a local rest stop to usurp his post-failed-relationship blues.

Emerson's naive attempts at love somehow serve as a catalyst for the more seasoned characters in the film. It concludes with everyone else's problems on the way to resolution, except for Emerson's - which are presumably just beginning. In some ways, it feels like a liberal's version of an after-school special. In other ways, it's a bit like Rog's eco-friendly, not yet workable, excrement/fuel idea; the idea is there, but its ability to create an impact isn't.

Directed by Amnon Buchbinder, and co-written with Daniel MacIvor.