Mora Stephens' ZIPPER gives Patrick Wilson another plum role in a poorly-marketed movie

Let's once again sing the praises of Patrick Wilson. This under-appreciated actor labors consistently in film and television, in projects that are very good yet often quirky enough to end up under-seen. Moving quickly and gracefully from award-winning work in legitimate theater to one of the lead roles in the Mike Nichols-directed Angels in America for HBO, Wilson soon became a staple in the stable of highly accom-plished movie and TV actors.

Wilson, shown above at left and below, has appeared in some of my favorite films -- check out his work in The Ledge or Stretch for a sample of his versa-tility and how he can use his charisma in both major and understated ways -- and now he appears in one of those little movies that, in its way, is as much of a character study as is the subject of yesterday's post, Mangle-horn. Yet, the film is receiving one of the stupidest marketing campaigns ever to sink a Blu-ray/DVD release.

The quote featured on the cover art calls ZIPPER "this year's Gone Girl." Hello? Because the two movies have nothing at all to do with each other, this sets up the viewer for an expectation that can never be met. On the back of the box, from the same critic, is plastered, "The grown -up thriller of  the year," although the film is not a thriller at all. There's barely a thrill in it (though it contains one very well-executed sequence of suspense), nor, I suspect, was it the intention of co-writer (with Joel Viertel) and director, Mora Stephens, to give it many "thrills." This kind of marketing assures that the movie will be perceived as worse than it is by setting up certain expectations and then consistently trouncing them.

Ms. Stephens's story (the filmmaker is shown at right) and the manner in which she presents it, make it clear that she's most interested in the character of the man Mr. Wilson portrays. Sam Ellis is a high-level federal prosecutor whose addiction to pornography moves into the area of escort services. And if you pooh-pooh this as simply unbelievable that a family man and successful public figure would endanger his career in this way, I offer you but two words: Eliot Spitzer.  Or two more: Anthony Weiner. Or even two more: Ashley Madison. So much for the movie's premise being suspect.

I began this film not knowing who had directed it. I just shoved the disc into my Blu-ray and began watching. Around halfway along I found myself wondering if it was not directed by a woman because the sympathy of the filmmaker seemed to be much more all-inclusive than in most male-directed movies I've seen. And the main interest of the writer/director appeared to be on how and why our "hero" keeps doing what he's doing.

Wilson does a bang-up job of showing us his family-man side (above),along with his confused, addicted, turned-on outer self and turned-off inner self -- never more so than in one scene that takes place in a car in a parking garage with one of his escorts (a fine job by Penelope Mitchell), during which Wilson's character goes from A to B to C (well, it's more like A to F to Z) in a single amazingly rich and disturbing scene that underscores just how strong an obsession it is that has this man in thrall.

In the supporting cast, strong performances are given by Lena Headey (above and above) as Sam's wife (there's one scene here in which you'll peg this couple as just a few steps away from the one in the American version of House of Cards);

by Ray Winstone, as a noted political journalist; and by Richard Dreyfuss (shown below) as a political king-maker and Dianna Agron (above, right) as one of those nubile and upwardly mobile interns. The political and moral machinations here are nothing new, but the interesting viewpoint Stephens brings, and the depth given by Wilson help the movie resonate.

Zipper is certainly not a great film by any means. But it is much better than you'll have heard. Just don't expect thrills and some Gone Girl scenario. It's out now on Blu-ray and DVD -- from Alchemy and running 112 minutes.

Photos above are from the film itself, with the 

exception of that of the director (by Hilary Bronwyn Gayle) 

and the initial photo of Mr. Wilson (by George Pimentel, 

courtesy of Getty Images).

Streaming tip: Stacie Passon's CONCUSSION shows us what a bump on the head can do

Never for one moment uninteresting, yet forever making us want to get deeper into things as it glides along the surface of its main character's life, CONCUSSION, the writing/directing debut of actress Stacie Passon (shown below), is one of the better movies I've seen in some time about the lives of present-day lesbians and how they manage work, love, family (including children). The movie begin with the delivery of a bad bump on the head, as a ball thrown by one of those children bloodies the side of the face of our heroine, Abby (Robin Weigart). Whether this event itself causes a kind of disconnect in Abby's life or that disconnect was fully there, waiting to be exposed, is up for grabs. But what happens from here onwards makes for quite the change in our working housewife's life.

Abby already has a career as a successful woman who locates real estate that "needs work," does that work, and then sells at a tidy profit. She is also married to a woman with her own successful career, and the pair have two children: a boy and a girl who are, one assumes, pretty normal and relatively happy. But all this -- which would be plenty on the plate of most people I know -- is somehow not enough. Via some happenstance involving friends, clients, co-workers and their "connections," Abby comes upon the opportunity to act as an escort -- which, after a bit of coaxing and working out her own "rules of the game," she does. How she manages all this is the meat of the movie. Why she does it, why she needs to, we never really learn.

Consequently the movie skates along, quite nicely for the most part on the surface of things. We see these "connections" made, and they are certainly believable enough; we watch as client after client is serviced by Abby -- often psychologically, as much as sexually; and then, at last, we watch things (sort of) fall apart.

Some movie-makers would use this kind of story as an excuse for heavy melodrama, or maybe something in the thriller genre, not to mention the possibility of high (or low) comedy. Ms Passon opts for none of the above. Instead she goes for almost mundane reality, and the result, as I note above, is never uninteresting. But so much remains out of sight and mind.

Does this woman love her children? Is she even capable of this? It certainly doesn't show in what we see. Which makes us worry for those kids' future. The relationship between spouses is also fraught and barely probed. Both women have their problems and issues, it is clear. By the end they may have begun to work on this. Or maybe not. They might simply go back to that all-surface life.

Performances are fine right down the line. Everyone is so good in fact, that we want to know more about them all -- from the elusive, shy client played by Laila Robins to the the pert little girlfriend (played by, I believe, Emily Kinney) of Abby's contractor, who has set up this entire escort service. But the movie, such as it is, belongs to Ms Weigert, who is as usual, quite good, so far as she is allowed to go. Which is, again, all glistening surface.

The core, which is missing from Abby's character (we never see her prior to getting that titular concussion), is also missing from the movie itself. This makes it unusual, certainly -- as if this is the life we'll have once those pod people from Invasion of the Body Snatchers have taken over completely. I don't know that this is anything like what Ms Passon wanted to achieve. But it is something of an achievement, granted an odd one, nonetheless. You can watch the movie now on Netflix streaming, Amazon Instant Video, and probably elsewhere, too.