This movie reminded me the Taxi Driver Class of movies , this is a nonstop road-trip to real life without lies , it is an honest creation that passes from "why to me?" to "happened to us too".It jumps from the ego and falls to the person next to you.This is not an easy trip as it looks.The reward about understanding this, is "happiness" real happiness without lies the happiness of living.I really liked this film to say the truth there's been a long time to see such an honest film .Dont miss this it worths your time.People on this film worked hard to achieve the purpose and it is obvious not like other garbages that circulating on the market today.Also there's a question "Can i ?" and the answer is "Why not?".Think about it.
... View MoreI follow film websites and picked up a film festival buzz about this movie. I spotted it on Fios pay-per-view and said "what the heck." I like micro-budget films if they are original (being from Baltimore, check out our home boy Matthew Porterfield).That said, this movie enthralled me. In my youth in the 60s and 70s, I spent a certain amount of time on the road. I hitchhiked from Boston to Provincetown almost effortlessly in 1972. I traveled all around the Baltimore/D.C. area on my thumb. I fear those days are over. Not sure why. But I met a lot of interesting people along the way.Anyway, a lot of those reminiscences came back watching "Bass Ackwards." Linas, our hero, has basically gotten kicked out of Seattle. No one there who he thought he was tight with wants him around anymore. He ends up on an alpaca farm to make a few bucks and the owner is glad to give Linas his rattletrap VW microbus, a ridiculous vehicle in any man's motor pool. Linas hits the road.Linas' parents are glad to hear he's on the way home to where they live in Boston. But you can tell they are dubious over what he's up to. They definitely do not want him as a permanent boarder.Bottom line, Linas is leaving nowhere and headed nowhere. All that matters is what happens to him along the way. And interesting things happen. He picks up and befriends a guy with heavy marital baggage. He flirts with a girl he does not know is married and ends up in a punch-out. He runs out of gas and has to do a Christopher Walken imitation in Lithuanian to get the gas he needs (I kid you not).It's not much of a spoiler to say Linas lands in an intriguing place in NYC and we see the beginnings of his new life. In fact, the movie ends abruptly where you are really curious what come next. Nevermind. He'll be OK.This is wonderful independent American cinema. And, one of the best American road movies ever made.
... View MoreI also related to the movie, have wanted to see it ever since Sundance, and YouTube's pay release window. I found it easy to get into the rhythm of the film. I liked the sweetness of it, that it took its time, and that it had none of the smugness and self-consciousness hipness of many indie, and most studio, films. I had the same reaction to it as I did to sex, lies and videotape 20 years ago, feeling like this was a film that was again pushing the boundaries of film-making, pushing the margins to more authenticity, naturalism, etc. It's similar, but different than other indie or road films. It feels post-slacker, post- irony, post hollow-culture-formula-action movies, post-judgmental us- against-them contemporary stuff. It also redefined hetero men as I find them today, less afraid to be sensitive, unclear about what roles are today, not as phonily macho and cool as portrayed in Hollywood films. I know more people like Linas than I do leading men in mainstream films. That probably goes for the characters he meets on the road, somewhat more like people in LA, than those who inhabit studio films. The film was somewhat lacking in plot, and I was slightly itchy, but only slightly. Mostly I fell into the rhythm of the film, happy to be with Linas on his road adventure, as he experienced himself and his solitaryness in a way that was quite relatable for all of us.
... View MoreIt's interesting to wonder what a movie actually is supposed to mean so we only have our own perspective to rely on...With this movie I immediately fell in love with the cinematography. It's got a real life quality mixed with a dash of art to really make me feel connected to whats happening.I feel like the main character a lot in my personal life, not to sound over the top melancholy or anything. I just relate to the social interactions with people, the awkwardness of it all. The self amusement and the way we see the world when we are by ourselves.Life is tough and this movie keeps it real and relative, props to the crew, I feel big things coming for them in the future.Sorry if this is a pointless review, it's my first one... :)
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