Andrew Bujalski goes right to the roots of indie film, in an admirable if less than fantastic follow-up to Funny Ha Ha. This no-frills b&w three-hander is reminiscent of Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise, which several interviewees in the documentary Independent’s Day (about the Sundance Film Festival) cite as the starting point for the modern American independent film movement. Another tale of post-graduate drift, romantic and vocational, this film features highly-naturalistic and seemingly aimless dialogue in stylized but anti-stylistic situations. It feels real, if vaguely grubby, but needs to get out of doors more, just like its characters. Humorous and rather sweet, though, like those shaggy, sheepish characters. Just okay as movies, Bujalski’s films represent an heroic effort by a group of twentysomethings to tell their own stories in their own way, and an even more heroic effort to get them seen. (2005, dvd, n.) *6* (see: www.mutualappreciation.com)
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