(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.

J. C. Chandor's notable A MOST VIOLENT YEAR: Saving the not-quite-best film for the last

Writer/director J.C. Chandor is making quite the name for himself -- with movies hugely acclaimed by the critics (myself included) while not setting the box-office afire. That might change just a bit (but not by much, I'm afraid) with the release of his third film, A MOST VIOLENT YEAR, which has been chosen by the National Board of Review (NBR) as the best film of 2014. Looking over the NBR's record for the past 20 years, I find the group has generally made wise choices for Best Film, with Finding Neverland and Quills the only real ringers. (Those films had certain qualities, but "best"? Please.) The NBR even managed to produce a very wise tie in 1994, honoring both Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction -- a choice of quality both old and new.

Mr. Chandor (the filmmaker is shown at left) sets his newest endeavor in New York City back in 1981, which is said to have been the most violent year on record for NYC. Oddly enough, what distinguishes A Most Violent Year -- other than it's being very well written and directed (both by Chandor) and well acted by a talented ensemble -- is how very non-violent it turns out to be, given that the threat of same hangs over the entire movie. It also takes us into an industry into which we seldom venture: that of the fuel oil business. Evidently, back in 1981, trucks delivering fuel oil were being robbed repeatedly (below), while their drivers were often hurt in the process (further below). The particular driver we see here in both shots is played by a very good actor, Elyes Gabel, and it is his role and his performance that give the movie its beating heart.

I learned more than I would have imagined possible about the fuel oil business while watching this film, which was, back in that decade, at least -- if what we see and hear in the movie can be believed -- controlled by a few leading families, most of whom were involved in criminal activity to a greater or lesser extent.

The actual stars of the film are Oscar Issac and Jessica Chastain (shown below and further below), playing Abel and Anna Morales, the husband/wife owners of a relatively new fuel oil firm that is about to do a make-or-break deal which should insure its major growth. Both actors are, as always, very fine, with Mr. Issac (on screen most of the time) keeping his character and emotions quite close to the vest, as Abel attempts to curtail these robberies without resorting to any kind of illegal revenge.

Anna (Ms Chastain), on the other hand, comes from a high-level mob family and encourages Abel to do anything he must to right the situation, including, if necessary, using her family to help. But no, Abel is intent on succeeding on his own "honest" terms.

Is this even possible? The movie exists to answer that question, and the answer we get, as you might expect from Chandor, not to mention the situation itself, is anything but simple. As the film proceeds, we meet some of the Morales' friends, co-workers, competitors and police investigators (there are some fine supporting performances here from the likes of Albert Brooks, Alessandro Nivola and David Oyewolo), and we end up with yet another lesson -- one of the better ones -- about the costs of obtaining the American Dream.

Ms Chastain's role (unless much of it ended up on the cutting room floor) does not allow her much else than being an attractive, sexy nudge -- a smart one, but a nudge nonetheless. The movie belongs to its men, as has all three of Chandor's films, and they all come through with flying colors, each character offering up a different approach to violence and to the situation in which they're all involved.

Issac continues to grow as one of our most intelligent, tamped-down and subtle actors. Interestingly, his charisma can be seen most effectively in a twatty little pseudo-blockbuster like Sucker Punch, in which his Blue Jones character runs riot (watch this film to its conclusion and end credits, just to see him and Carla Gugino cut loose). I wish somebody would write Issac a role in which he could really fly. Clearly, he's got the wings.

Meanwhile, A Most Violent Year -- from A24 and running 125 minutes -- opens this Wednesday, December 31, in New York City at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square and the Landmark Sunshine Cinema. In Los Angeles, look for it The Landmark and the Arclight Hollywood. A wider release will hit theaters across the country in the weeks to come.

Havana Marking's SMASH AND GRAB offers those naughty Pink Panther jewel thieves

Just a couple of days ago, one of the Pink Panthers escaped from a European prison, which makes this week's documentary debut all that more timely. SMASH AND GRAB: THE STORY OF THE PINK PANTHERS, the new film from documentarian Havana Marking, fills in those of us who pay little attention to our own low-level criminal breed here in the USA, let alone those of Europe (while wishing that our government paid more attention to the high-level, Wall Street/banker type of bad boys) on the tale of this hierarchical and highly organized (but in such a manner that makes it very difficult to infiltrate) gang of jewel thieves.

Ms Marking, shown at right, who evidently got access to high-level gang members, has devised her film in such a way that their identities are kept secret by recording their interviews, using actors to portray them, and then disguising even these actors by using a kind of animation and posterization (below and further below) in which the actors' identities cannot be ascertained, let alone that of the real criminals. While this works well as a disguise, it also distances us twice over from the real thing.

Consequently what sticks most post-viewing is what we hear and learn from a certain investigative reporter who herself has done a lot of leg work and interviewing to discover information about the gang members, who hail -- surprise! -- from a place known as the former Yugoslavia. But here, at least, were not talking genocide by the Serbs, against which jewel robbery seems like the proverbial walk in the park.

The most interesting information the movie has to offer, in fact, is how -- in the era following Tito's "liberal Communism," during which various ethnic groups and religions were held together peaceably via this more-or-less benevolent dictatorship -- civil war came to the territory, along with genocide and ethnic cleansing, and the resulting shards of hegemony became to a large extent criminal states. In the choicest bit of dropped info, we learn how these states deal with own criminals: They are sent abroad to rob in other countries and then bring the loot back home.

The Pink Panthers are a part (certainly now the most famous) of this criminal set that appear -- if the movie is to be believed -- to use the threat of violence rather than the real thing against the people they rob, thus cowing their victims (in Western Europe, Asia and the Mid-East but never in their own countries) into immediate surrender and help.

All these animated interviews are woven into footage of the actual robberies obtained via security tapes, along with interviews with that aforementioned journalist and some law enforcement officers, accompanied by a musical score that ranges from jaunty and upbeat to the sort of loud, generic stuff of a B-level suspense movie. The result is a relatively interesting hodge-podge that gives you some kind of introduction into this netherworld of well-concealed and perhaps state-inspired criminality.

If the movie is playing fair with us, these guys and occasional gals are robbing solely from the world's sleazy "one per cent" and since they are not actually killing the underlings who labor for that one per cent, I guess we can consider them the pseudo-Robin Hoods of the former Yugoslavia, who, according to the two interviews we get here, only want to make enough money to retire and live in a pleasant style with their loving families. Gosh -- ain't it the American Dream all over again.

Smash and Grab, from Music Box Films' relatively new Doppelganger Releasing division and running just 90 minutes, opens this Wednesday, July 31, at Manhattan's Film Forum. Elsewhere? Probably, but nothing has been posted on the distributor's sites just yet.  But since it's from Music Box, a DVD and/or Blu-ray should also be in the offing, eventually.