Pete Smalls Is Dead

This is simply an eclectic disarray. It does not know exactly what to be, other than an attempt at irreverence, which misses. However, failure in itself still has meaning, in demonstrating the new found viability for filmmaking.

This clearly is a script which would not pass the benchmark for most studios. They are in the movie business to make money by making movies. Clearly and proudly championing its independent heritage, the script bobs and weaves incoherently while trying to tell a sleuthing story for which no excitement is aroused to begin with.

I don't know who the characters are and most importantly, why I should care about what they care about. There is a mediocre effort in being clever revealing the plot so haphazardly which only adds a dissonance to what the point of the story is.

Vaguely it is about a washed-up actor trying to recuperate love via the kidnapping of the only cherished possession from his diseased lover: Buddha. Coincidentally, to save Buddha his dog from his debt collectors, he must somehow coordinate selling the rights to a film his ex-triad successor left in limbo upon is death.

I wish there was a more ample survey of the underbelly of Los Angeles filmmaking, as if such quasi-Bukowskian men exist to make movies. I wish, also, of more of the setting of LA to have played a stronger supporting character than what was filmed - we could feel the organic environment but we did not get a sense of itself. 

And this is the general problem with the film: there is no center of gravity. It is so impetuous that it actually becomes flaccid. This is only exacerbated by a script that feigns wit and style but comes off as cute and not in a good way.

As mentioned however, this movie is a success for the spirit of creativity. Digital filmmaking made it possible to create the opportunity for my criticism and for the acting roles, which I am confident helped Mr. Dinklage secure his masterful Game of Thrones role. Likewise for Ms. Heady playing beside Steve Buscemi, who fittingly advertised herself as a queen for Game of Thrones by playing a personal assistant slut. I kid.

In the new path for making film with projects easier to conceive, there will be failed attempts which certify the profit signals of the big studios to make consumerist trash. However, the inertia of such projects will create a higher rate of quality independent films for release. All in all, this is a price that must be paid.

Grade: D