Josh Bell
This week’s fringe VOD releases include a documentary about a living action-movie legend, a drama about possible reincarnation, and two thrillers with the allegedly hilarious joke that a dumbass criminal’s passcode is 6969.
Backpay (VOD October 2): The characters in Canadian writer-director Mike Gallant’s crime thriller have a lot to say about the state of the world, but it’s nearly impossible to discern anything about the movie’s point of view. Gallant plays former political consultant Steve Walker, who’s unemployed and desperate for money to support his growing family. He seizes an opportunity when he runs into his old friend Murphy Davidson (Dwain Murphy), an ex-cop with criminal expertise who encourages Steve to go after what he wants, via any means necessary. They hatch a plan to kidnap and extort Steve’s former boss, and of course things go awry, but not in a suspenseful or exciting way. Mostly the characters just yell at each other, with brief breaks for gauzy flashbacks to Steve’s happier moments with his wife Dawn (Seled Calderon) and one incongruous mid-robbery sex scene. There’s a lot of loud, angry talk about what’s wrong with the country, but it amounts to little more than tedious, circular arguments until the abrupt, unsatisfying ending. Grade: C-
Nickels (VOD and select theaters October 2): This bizarre melodrama seems equally on the verge of turning into a horror movie or a Christian parable at any given moment, but instead remains in a baffling no man’s land. Comedy veteran Rob Riggle puts on his serious face as branding executive Tom Monroe, who is still consumed with grief over the death of his brother in a motorcycle accident decades earlier. As Tom’s college-age neighbor Mitch Diller (Aaron Holliday) is recovering from his own motorcycle accident, he starts behaving strangely toward Tom, in a way that indicates he may be channeling the spirit of Tom’s late brother. Or maybe not — the movie is maddeningly vague on this and every other point, making it primarily the story of a middle-aged man spending inordinate amounts of time with his creepy underage neighbor. Director Spencer King indicates solemnity by having the characters speak … really … slowly, and the actors seem lost, especially Elizabeth Tulloch, whose bug-eyed expressions as Tom’s put-upon wife stand in for the audience’s bewilderment. Grade: C
Stranglehold (VOD October 2): Actor-turned-director Clark Duke wore his crime-caper influences on his sleeve in his 2020 debut Arkansas, and he gets more derivative and less clever in his sophomore directorial effort. While the mannered Arkansas landed just on the right side of convincing, the similarly mannered Stranglehold never feels anything other than belabored and phony, especially in its condescending depiction of the Arkansan Duke’s home state. Ashley Benson brings some grounded emotion to her portrayal of a working-class stripper with a young daughter and an alcoholic husband (Jake Lacy) to support, but she’s surrounded by irritating redneck caricatures. Benson’s Bailey just wants to make enough money to pay for her daughter’s healthcare, so she foolishly agrees to her husband’s drunken plan to rob the club where she works, on a night when it’s hosting a regional gathering of mobsters. Duke and his co-writers fill the dialogue with lazy conspiracy-theory talking points, and the excessive violence is similarly glib, making the entire enterprise an empty exercise in stylistic posturing. Grade: C
Dolph: Unbreakable (VOD October 6): At this point it’s relatively common knowledge that Swedish action star Dolph Lundgren is a Fulbright scholar with a master’s degree in chemical engineering, but this documentary reveals even more fascinating layers to the actor known for movies like Rocky IV and Universal Soldier. It’s an authorized biography produced by Lundgren himself, so it’s never particularly challenging, but Lundgren shows tender vulnerability in talking about his childhood abuse and his years-long struggle with cancer, allowing cameras to document some of his darker moments in hospitals and doctor’s offices. There are the expected testimonials from peers like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Jean-Claude Van Damme, but director Andrew Holmes focuses just as much on Lundgren’s personal life, devoting substantial time to his rise to fame and early romantic relationship with Grace Jones. At 74 minutes, Unbreakable barely has time to cover the basics, but it’s still engaging and informative, leaving viewers eager to learn more about this surprisingly sensitive macho icon. Grade: B
Tie Die (VOD October 9): Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman and TV host Joe Bob Briggs are cult-movie legends, but they’re not necessarily known for their acting, so it’s odd to see them get top billing in this micro-budget horror comedy. Kaufman has a surprisingly substantial role as a park ranger concerned about a series of deadly attacks, but Briggs’ local sheriff never even appears in the frame with another character. It’s the indie horror version of ageezer teaser, with writer-director Morgan Miller using Kaufman and Briggs to lure in exploitation fans while his cast of unknowns are the actual stars, serving as fodder for what is assumed to be a rampaging bear. The movie opens with an amusingly low-fi kill scene, but it’s mostly long stretches of nothingness, as characters stand around awkwardly or drive from one place to another. The eventual explanation for the killings is both nonsensical and underwhelming, and the meager production values (including a “music festival” attended by approximately 10 people) are pathetic rather than endearing. Grade: C-
