(Mostly) lovable losers populate Will Addison/ Ben Matheny's road-trip indie, EASY DOES IT

Losers have a long and storied history on film -- particularly, I suspect, in the independent realm -- but losers of the actually lovable type prove fewer and farther between. To the array we can now add the characters of Jack (Ben Matheny) and Scottie (Matthew Paul Martinez), two really dumb dolts who just about never get anything right.

A little of this kind of thing can go quite quickly to extremes, and while I must admit this keeps threatening to occur with EASY DOES IT, thanks to these two performances (plus a lot of good supporting work), the co-writing and direction of Will Addison (shown below, with this, his first full-length film after a bunch of shorts), and co-writing from Mr. Matheny, we stick around.

The movie's plot, such as it is, has Jack and Scottie owing money to the local crime lord (a funny, scary turn by Linda Hamilton, above, in dreadlocks), as simultaneously Jack receives a post card from his now-deceased mom telling him that she has left him something. So our pair hightails it across the country  toward California to claim that "inheritance," pursued by said crime lord's daughter and major "enforcer" (Susan Gordon).

Mayhem ensues, in addition to a lot of sprightly, fast-moving fun, with the entry -- and then re-entry -- of a new character named Collin, played with relish and delight by Cory Dumesnil at left, below), that gooses the movie into becoming even more enjoyable.

Along the way, we're treated to quite a number of lovely if oddball visuals -- from shards of broken glass that turn into stars in the night sky to a reflection of EMERGENCY in a rain puddle to a ton of thick red paint washing away in that rain --  while supporting actor Bryan Batt gets the film's funniest line, a surprised but dead-on assessment of our two heroes:
"You all are stupid!"

The writing occasionally rises to funny metaphorical heights, too: "America has gone and over-expanded itself: too little jelly over too much toast." Though the film is said to be set during the 1970s, because the locations are mostly America's south and southwest, you could practically believe these are current times, as well. (Actors/stars Matheny and Martinez are shown above, right and left, respectively.)

Can't make any claim to greatness for this little film, but if you're interested in viewing good performances (from both known and not-so-known actors), while watching new talent emerge, then take a chance on this one. From Gravitas Ventures and running 97 minutes, Easy Does It hits VOD and Digital HD this Friday, July 17 -- for purchase and/or rental.

Crime REALLY does not pay in Frédéric Schoendoerffer's road thriller, FAST CONVOY

The first thing we see on-screen is the Paramount logo, and so we immediately assume that this (at least partially) financed by Paramount-in-France crime thriller is going to reside pretty much in the realm of mainstream movies. As directed and co-written by French filmmaker Frédéric Schoendoerffer and acted very well by a cast who would seem to have some Moroccan/Algerian roots and led by popular French star Benoît Magimel (shown at left, and two photos below), FAST CONVOY (Le convoi) turns out to be that rare crime movie that turns a cliche on its ear, places character above explosion, and subtlety over the obvious. If its pacing is too slow for typical mainstream, that very dawdling produces the kind of depth and richness of character we expect independent cinema to provide. Above all else, the movie is -- remarkable in a crime thriller -- quietly but exquisitely humane.

M. Schoendoerffer, shown at right, has a resume filled with crime films, none of which, save this one, has been seen by TrustMovies. Judging on the basis of Fast Convoy,  I wouldn't mind taking a look at the others, each of which at least offers a stellar cast.

Here, the plot deals with a group of lower-echelon criminals, spread amongst four automobiles, transporting a shipment of illegal drugs along a highway in southern Spain. We soon learn that to the original haul has been added another shipment of cocaine, the prison-time penalty for which, if our boys are caught, is much longer than is that of their expected shipment. Questions are asked, tempers flare, mistakes are made, and soon one of the fellows is dead, another wounded, and a hostage kidnapped who must then become the driver of one of the cars.

Schoendoerffer and his oft-time co-writer Yann Brion have provided near-constant dialog between the guys in the cars that slowly reveals character while offering clues to what is to come. One of these clues eventually comes home to roost in a betrayal that seems all the more sad and awful because it is, on one level, so very necessary.

That kidnapped driver, a young woman about whom we learn very little (played by Rheem Kherici, above), is still brought to life quite well. The relationship that develops between her and Magimel's character -- more kindly than romantic --  takes a number of nice turns, surprising and finally generous on both sides.

Each of the young criminals is given his due, too, from the worry-wart family-man, Majid (Foëd Amara, above) to the close-to-the-vest Imad (Tewfik Jallab, below, left) who, along with Magimel, appears to be "in charge" of this operation.

Of all these guys, perhaps the most touching is Yacine (Amir El Kacem, above, right), who may have a "needle dick," as his car-mate jokes, but also possesses a poetic, romantic sensibility which is captured quite beautifully in his final few moments.

Yes, these are all criminals, and we do see them as such, but thanks to the filmmaker's sensibility, they are never less than human, and we come to care about them at the finale more than you could possibly have imagined at the film's beginning.

Part of the surprise and the skill of Fast Convoy lies in how nicely "un-slick" the movie is. This is no Fast & Furious franchise imitation. Instead, as the film progresses, it becomes clear how "amateur" these guys actually are. Oh, they've done this sort of drug trafficking before, but they are mostly untutored in everything from dealing with the police to handling bullet wounds or heavy-duty stress.

All this is captured best in the film's climatic shoot-out, in which one thing after another seems to happen as much by accident as on purpose. There's a kind of "realism" here than most action films don't even attempt, much less succeed at.

Schoendoerffer's is one of those rare modern movies in which crime not only does not pay, but is shown to sadly snuff out the lives of young men who might have made something more of their time here on earth.

Distributed digitally in the U.S. via Under the Milky Way, in French with English subtitles and running 102 minutes, Fast Convoy opens on VOD throughout the U.S. and Canada on Tuesday, December 5, on all major platforms including iTunes, Sony, Google Play, Amazon, Microsoft, Vudu, Comcast, Charter, Cox, Vimeo, and various other cable operators. 

World War II France again -- done spendidly -- in Christian Carion's COME WHAT MAY

Anyone who has seen and enjoyed the French television series A French Village (all about a relatively typical village and what its inhabitants endured during World War II) will probably want to view COME WHAT MAY (En mai, fais ce qu'il te plaît), the new film from Christian Carion (of The Girl from Paris, Farewell, and the Oscar-nominated Joyeux Noel), a movie that seems appropriately dedicated to those displaced folk from the French countryside who had to leave their homes and take to the road once the Germans invaded their country.

Consequently, this film becomes rather like an extended road trip, during which two groups of protagonists make their way along the roads, across the countryside, in and out of villages, trying to reach their destination and, in fact, reunite. M. Carion (shown at right), a filmmaker whose work I've much enjoyed over the years since his 2001 feature debut, is what I'd call arthouse/mainstream. His films appeal to a larger audience than those of some foreign filmmakers because his subjects, as well as his handling of them, are somewhat standard and certainly easy enough to follow. And yet, within this, the man often surprises us.

Consider what he did with that "Girl From Paris," at one point lifting us off into a gravity-defying moment of sheer cinematic beauty and allowing his two stars -- Mathilde Seigner (who also appears in his new film, above) and the late Michel Serrault to play off each other with great specificity and little sentimentality. In Come What May, he brings us wartime in all its perversity, ugliness and horror, and yet -- since this movie is filmed in the glorious French countryside -- so much beauty that this helps stifle to some extent our shock and terror.

Carion proves especially good at avoiding melodrama by instilling his film with a good deal of surprise and arbitrary happenings so that we experience the shock of wartime -- not knowing what will occur and who will survive or perish. The rules these people have lived by for so long no longer apply. This means that characters we grown to love and care for may not make it to the next scene -- a circumstance that keeps them and us unsteady but on our toes. Cation also captures very well the inevitable distrust that must grow out of a time and situation so fraught with life-threatening possibilities.

Even the filmmaker's occasional "action" scenes are done extremely well. The larger ones are handled with speed and flair, the small ones so personally that we come quickly to care for characters we barely know. Yes, the German troops did horrible things to their conquered, but when we are in the midst of a threesome of German soldiers, boys barely out of school, Carion ensures that we suddenly feel for them, too, as vulnerable human beings. Interestingly and ironically, the director reserves his greatest hatred and disdain for a German filmmaker whom we watch along the way, as he makes a propaganda movie for the Nazis.

The tale here tells of the populace of one particular village, under the leadership of their decent mayor (Olivier Gourmet, two photos above), who decide to abandon that village and try to make it to a larger city. They take with them a young German boy named Max (Joshio Marlon, above), who -- along with his father (August Diehl, below), both Communist refugees forced to flee from Nazi Germany -- has been living in the village masquerading as Belgian, until the father is arrested by the French authorities and the two are separated.

The father's attempted reunion with his son -- with the help of a British soldier (Matthew Rhys, below) whom he encounters early on -- becomes the movie's second plot strand. Given the film's desire and general ability to avoid melodrama, the result of dad's search is the one event in the film that I think could have been handled better.

On a technical level, the movie sparkles -- from cinematography (Pierre Cottereau) to costumes (Sandrine Langen) to the subtle, quiet and lovely musical score by Ennio Morricone.  Despite that single misstep that seems a tad too-easy and coincidental, this movie should quickly engulf you and hold you thoroughly in thrall. It is a fine tribute to a generation (including Carion's own mother's) who took to the wartime road to save their lives and those of their family and friends. (That's Alice Isaaz, below, left, who plays -- and very well -- the school teacher who protects our young Max.)

From Cohen Media Group, in French and English with mostly English subtitles and running a lengthy but easy-to-watch 114 minutes, Come What May opens this Friday, September 9, in New York City at the Angelika Film Center and the Paris Theatre. The following Friday, September 16, it hits another dozen cities across the country, including Los Angeles at Laemmle's Playhouse 7 and Town Center 5), and here in South Florida at the Living Room Theaters in Boca Raton and the Bill Cosford Cinema in Coral Gables. Click here to view all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters.

LAMB: Ross Partridge adapts, directs and stars in this doozy about trust and betrayal

Tragedy hangs over the new movie, LAMB, like a beautifully wafting shroud. One of its two stars, Ross Partridge, directed the film, as well as adapted it (from the novel by Bonnie Nadzam), and he has come up with something rather extraordinary: a kind of character study about characters who've gone missing -- in at least a couple of senses of that word. Mr. Partridge, shown on poster, right, and below, plays a fellow who appears to have no character. He's a kind of semi-benign sociopath who lies constantly: to his wife, boss, mistress and then, maybe to the other important character in the film, a young girl he meets and gloms onto, who, in the course of the movie, goes missing herself.

Or is this guy, called both David and Gary as the movie wends its ways along, really something else?  Maybe just a poor, addled, lonely, middle-aged man looking for some genuine connection. And what, finally, has he wrought -- does he wreak -- by movie's end upon that young girl, called both Tommie and Emily?  Has he helped or harmed her? The mystery, as well as much of the ferocity, of Lamb is that you will find potent arguments on both sides of these questions. Whatever your answer, you'll be forced to consider this unusual situation from a new perspective.

While Mr. Partridge excels in all three roles -- as adaptor, director and actor -- the real find is the young actress, Oona Laurence (above), who plays Tommie/Emily. Ms Laurence possesses a level of maturity and focus that even most adult actors never achieve. (She reminds us, in this regard, of the younger Saoirse Ronan.) The actress has the ability to look and act both her own age and that of a much older, wiser person -- without ever losing her grasp on the reality of the situation at hand. Her performance here also avoids, thank god, any hint of the "cute."

How these two characters meet and bond is of great help to the film's reality quotient. What happens then, while coming up against our current understanding of pedophilia and child abuse. turns the film into a kind of open-ended morality play, with plenty of ammunition provided for either side of the argument.

Lamb is mostly a two-hander, with the only other major role essayed by the fine Jess Weixler, who plays the mistress of David/Gary and whose character is intelligent enough to finally provide us a small "fix" on this guy's modus operandi. At one point she tells him, "You can't go around making the whole world angry, just so you'll know where you stand."

From its initial not-so-cute meet, the movie morphs into a kind of road trip and from there into an increasingly fraught situation in which love and need jockey for position with fear and pain. Through it all, Ms Laurence has us in thrall, while Mr. Partridge keeps us guessing -- and hoping.

Similar in certain ways to another odd-and-finite-relationship movie -- last year's Like Sunday Like Rain -- this pairing seems as wrong and unhelpful as the earlier film's twosome was beneficial and valuable. But that's my "take" on things. Partridge's film is definitely worth seeing, arguing over, and finally coming to your own conclusion about what our guy has done to or for our girl.

Distributed by The Orchard and running a just-about-perfect length at 97 minutes, Lamb opens this Friday, January 8, in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Music Hall 3 and in New York City at the Cinema Village.

British miserablism gets another go-round in Joseph Bull & Luke Seomore's BLOOD CELLS

Last noted by TrustMovies in Paddy Considine's directorial debut, Tyrannosaur, and then again in that very fine example, The Selfish Giant by Clio Barnard, the sub-genre of British miserablism seems to surface via a new rendition every year or so. The latest to hit screens -- or in this case, DVD and VOD -- is a just-about adequate example of both the genre and of British movie-making. BLOOD CELLS (its not especially auspicious or revealing title would seem to be more at home in the zombie genre) tells the tale of a lonely, disconnected man named Adam (Barry Ward, above and further below) who appears to have been traumatized by some family incident in his semi-distant past.

We get clues to this and to just about everything else in the film, as the movie-makers -- Luke Seomore and Joseph Bull (above, left and right, respectively) -- like to tease us with snippets without telling us almost anything outright or point blank. I'm all for subtlety, but after awhile this sort of thing can seem more like arbitrary withholding. In any case, the whatever-it-is has rendered our Adam seemingly incapable of family connection and perhaps not much of any other kind.

When the upcoming birth of his brother's child calls Adam back to the fold, it's trauma-time anew, and our hero very cautiously attempts to find his way home. Along that way, he encounters a number of odd/interesting folk who offer him solace (with a price), temporary companionship, and other miserablism-type delights. The darkest of these is the opportunity for him and his girlfriend to perform sexually in front of a bevy of old men in a bath-house. The sweetest involves a pair of young girls who use our hero to buy them some alcohol.

Big-time father issues surface from the beginning and wend their way throughout the film, culminating in a "reveal" that, while explanatory, seems too little too late. (Dad was apparently a cattle or dairy farmer who experienced the complete desolation of his herd.) The finale, too, after all we've seen and all our hero has experienced, seems like sentimental sap.

Still, the acting is solid, from everyone and throughout, and the dense, dark look of the film certainly fits its theme and locale. Cinematography is also on target, though, at this point in miserablism time, we've seen an awfully lot of this kind of thing. The genre works best when there's plenty of character specifics on view; here, what we get is mostly glum and repetitive.

On balance, the movie pretty much breaks even. There's certainly as much to appreciate as there is to question. Blood Cells, distributed by Garden Thieves Pictures and produced with the help of Gucci (of all companies! Is it attempting to mix a little "reality" into its uber-high-end image?), hits the street on DVD, as well as simultaneously being available via VOD, this coming Monday, August 17. Click here for more information.

Don't-stream-it tip: Rachid Bouchareb 's JUST LIKE A WOMAN is a good opportunity missed

Having now seen three films from Rachid Bouchareb (shown immediately below), a Parisian-born filmmaker of (I am guessing) Algerian ancestry -- Days of Glory, the Oscar-nominated Outside the Law and now JUST LIKE A WOMAN -- I am also guessing that this director doesn't care to go very deeply into character. He's best when he can spin events and action into quite watchable, if somewhat predictable, movies. He also may be a bit more comfortable in the company of men, as the first two films mentioned above are a lot better than his latest endeavor -- even if that film was written by two women: Joelle Touma and Marion Doussot. Supposedly the first film in a planned Arab-American trilogy, this movie has us dearly hoping that the next two are better.

Just Like a Woman certainly is not awful. It features two good actresses, both of whom are very attractive -- Sienna Miller and Golshifteh Farahani (of Chicken With Plums and The Patience Stone) as put-upon wives. Miller's hubby's an unemployed adulterer, while Farahani's is a decent man unfortunately in thrall to his abusive mother. That he's played by the crack French actor Roschdy Zem (shown in photo at bottom) helps tilt the movie back toward an intelligent balance rather than what it most appears to be: simple-minded feminism-lite. When events get out of hand for our two gals -- how and why make up the most interes-ting part of the film -- they leave Chicago to go on the road together.

Miller's character, you see, is taking belly-dancing lessons (at which Farahani's, being from the middle east, is of course already adept). The former has an upcoming audition in Santa Fe, after which she hopes to be chosen for a dance company. On this extended road trip, our ladies stop along the way to do a few belly dancing gigs (one of which is shown above and has Miller donning a black wig). Though they earn some money for this, they may also be expected to provide a bit more than mere dancing.

Ms Miller (above) is ballsy and competent, as ever, but it takes a more richly conceived, written and directed movie (Factory Girl or Interview) for her to shine a bit. Ms Farahani (below) seems mostly sweet and unaffected in the more passive role.

Along their way they encounter sexism and racism, have some fun and frolic, and -- uh, yes -- bond. There is nothing that proves the least surprising, unusual or even very specific in any of this. (Except perhaps the two Native Americans who aid the pair toward the end of the journey.) And the dialog is of the standard, write-me-as-you-go-along variety.

Meanwhile, our gals have learned a little and we've learned zilch. Even about belly-dancing. From Cohen Media Group, Just Like a Woman -- a title as generic and marketing-oriented as you could want -- is available now on Netflix streaming, Amazon Instant Video & on Blu-ray/DVD.

ADVENTURESS WANTED: Tom McAlevey & Yoshiko Kino make a fine DIY documentary

It ain't easy getting your film from the "shot" stage through to distribution. Even when, perhaps especially when that film is DIY in the extreme, shot solely by its two participants, on a for-real road trip that the two take in a bright red beach buggy all the way from Sweden to the tip of South Africa. Not only will one of the two filmmakers make his movie the DIY route, he will also, it seems, have to distribute it this way -- after a deal with some supposedly professional movie people did not pan out.

The guy in question is an American man, then living in Sweden, named Tom McAlevey (shown at right), who loves adventure and hooking up with women and so decided to combine the two into this particular trip -- and then film it all as it was going on. Hence his movie's title, ADVENTURESS WANTED, which was also the headline of the classified ad McAlevey ran, hoping to entice a relatively smart and attractive young woman into joining him. It worked. He had more than enough applicants (we see some of these at the beginning of the film), but decided to go with the woman, Yoshiko Kino, below, whom he knew first (if I got this part right) as his exercise/yoga instructor.

TrustMovies learned about the film from a press release emailed to him, giving him a video link to access in order to watch the film in high-definition. He did -- and now declares the viewing world fortunate indeed to be able to see this unusual diary-cum-movie. The documentary manages to combine so very many genres -- real-life adventure/love story/road trip/psychological profile/relationship manual/wild animal menagerie/and more -- that it proves both sui generis and surprisingly generous to both parties -- the adventuress and adventurer -- involved.

Adventuress Wanted is so utterly fresh, vivid and vital; so funny and even occasionally moving that one can easily understand why it won Best Directorial Debut at the 2010 NY International Film Festival. I've never experienced anything quite like this film. So impressed was I at its conclusion that, although I could have (in fact, had) watched for free, I got out my credit card and made a contribution to Mr. McAlevey's fund. Something this entertaining and unusual deserves a helping hand.

Now, you should perhaps know something more about these two performers/filmmakers. McAlevey's originally a New Yorker, now well into middle age, who lost an arm (see above) in a motorcycle accident in the late 1980s. A trouper, he handles himself and his loss with about as much grace and ease as would seem possible. He is a slight and somewhat scrawny man, as well -- though usually full of energy -- and this, together with the missing arm would, I suspect, make him a fellow that the average person would want to help along his way.

This may account for the fact that Tom tells (and shows) us how incredibly kind and helpful were almost all the Arabs he and Yoshiko met along their journey through Northern Africa and downwards. (The Tunisian garage-owner seems a particular gem of a guy.) In our current age of Muslim-bashing, this registers strongly and healthily, though, on the other hand, no mention is ever made in the movie about the northeastern and neighboring state of Israel.

Ms Kino, on the other hand, is most definitely all there, with a softig little body and lots of spirit to go with it. She offers an alternately good/bad foil for McAlevey (and he for her) and the pair makes no bones about its sexual encounters along the way and its bonding (and sometimes ripping apart) as the trip continues. As the prime filmmaker, McAlevey appears to be shooting straight and playing as fair as possible under sometimes trying circumstances. Conse-quently, we come away from the film with very good feelings toward both of the participants.

With Tom and Yoshiko doubling as their only crew for visuals and sound, the result here is surprisingly rich and -- with the wild animal footage -- exciting and real. Along the way, we travel through Italy and then over to Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and finally South Africa, with each country offering its own oddities, problems and help. There must have been a truckload of visuals to deal with, but the film has been edited down to a fast 85 minutes, thanks to the work of lead editor Jean Frédéric Axelsson and co-editor McAlevey.

By the end, we learn what has happened to Yoshiko and Tom, and if you stay through the bitter end, you'll see what a player this guy is. But I think you'll love him anyway -- and his film.  To watch Adventuress Wanted, simply click here, then click on Download Now toward the upper right hand column of your screen. Then scroll down and click on either of the green buttons that say Download the movie for PC or Download the movie for MAC.

And if you find the film even halfway as good as I did, I suspect you'll want to contribute something toward its continued success.