Palm Springs Film Review: 'Buck Run'
admin Festivals, James Le Gros, Nick Frangione, Nolan Lyons, Palm Springs Film Festival, Reviews	Festivals, James Le Gros, Nick Frangione, Nolan Lyons, Palm Springs Film Festival, Reviews
January 12, 2019 3:53PM PT
Death forces a reunion between estranged rural Pennsylvania father and son in this atmospheric if sketchy indie drama.
If not for a cell phone that's promptly taken away from our juvenile protagonist, you might think "Buck Run" takes place in the late '70s or early '80s. Evidently, it was that era which saw the last spasm of prosperity in the film's rural Pennsylvania setting, as any home improvements seem to date back at least a couple decades. A thick haze of economic hopelessness and all the related woes it brings hangs over this gritty indie drama from director Nick Frangione ("Roxie").
While the film is compelling in atmospheric and textural terms, it's less successful as storytelling, as David Hauslein's script proves excessively reluctant in parceling out much explanatory detail in this tale of a newly motherless boy's strained reunion with his ne'er-do-well deer-hunter father. The result is a mixed bag that's less than satisfying, albeit still distinctive enough to warrant a look by adventuresome festivals and niche distributors.
When the film introduces 15-year-old Shaw Templeton (Nolan Lyons), he's in a state of shock and denial: Despite mom's apparent long illness (presumably cancer), the young man can't process finding his mother (Amy Hargreaves) dead, so nearly two days pass before the authorities become aware of the situation.
This means Shaw is turned over to the care of his estranged dad, William (James Le Gros), who is understandably not thrilled, as he can barely take care of himself. Will tells the small-town police that he's been sober for more than two years, but we quickly discern that's a flat-out lie. His cabin in the woods is a cluttered mess. When he's not sleeping off the prior night's antics, he mostly hangs out with best (and only) bud John (Kevin J. O'Connor), who likewise ekes out a theadbare living hunting game. Whatever other bridges Will once had to the outside world, he's long since burnt.
Though there are glimmers of good intent in his generally surly demeanor, Shaw's dad has advanced far down the same road of antisocial alcoholism and isolation that already cost him his marriage. He doesn't know any better than to treat his son as a barely-tolerated intruder and source of free labor. Shaw keeps running away, but he has nowhere to run to — he's bullied at school and elsewhere, in particular by one noxious overweight kid. In these first traumatic days after his mother's demise, he finds some stability in focusing on making sure she gets a proper funeral and burial. But even that may be too much to ask for.
"Buck Run" has a lot of motifs that aren't given enough emphasis to become a binding source of narrative tension, notably Shaw's lack of sleep and food. There are subplots that also don't lead anywhere, including Will's tiff with John over an old loan that might have been borrowed under false pretenses. Even buck hunting itself, which occupies much of the adult characters' time (and Shaw's, in home-video flashbacks to happier childhood days), never gets woven into the story in any pointed fashion. Hauslein's script is impressionistic in ways that are effective enough on a moment-to-moment basis. Still, it would benefit from more of a structural spine, and the characters need more definition (including fleshed-out backstory) to avoid feeling like an evocative, elliptical short story simply stretched to fit a longer frame.
This places limits on the performers, who are well-cast but expected to fill the blanks left by the too-sketchy writing. Even just a scene or two of real, cathartic emotional specificity might've been enough to memorably punch across the plight of Will, though Le Gros does his considerable best with the role anyway. Lyons is overburdened carrying the film on his thin shoulders. We can't help but sympathize with Shaw, yet the film too often seems to think it's enough to dwell on his pained expressions as he swallows one more humiliation or setback. Though we grasp his luckless circumstances, he himself remains something of a blank.
Nonetheless, "Buck Run" does hold attention as a sometimes arresting mood piece, one that flows well in David Barker's editing despite the lack of much psychological suspense, and is vividly shot by DP Anna Franquesa Solano. Perry Mateson's production design and Laura Barreto's costumes faultlessly etch the details of a community in stasis — though not everyone is unhappy with that changelessness. (The film offers glimpses of local Amish and Mennonite residents.) The drifting electric guitar of Chris Brokaw's score further amplifies a timelessly melancholy air that is not without saving lyricism. "Buck Run" has its strengths as an audiovisual tone poem, even if it could have used more attention to the elements required to work as a full-length narrative.
Reviewed at Palm Springs Film Festival (World Cinema Now), Jan. 9, 2019. Running time: 82 MIN.
Production: An Intuition Film Prods., Tomorrowland Prod. Co. presentation. (Int'l sales: Intuition, Los Angeles.) Producers: Nancy Degnan, Nick Frangione, Julio Lopez Velasquez. Executive producers: Velasquez, Harley Kaplan, Brandon Powers, Beckie Burnier, Gloria Z. Belmonte, Reynaldo Zarate Belmonte, Maria Cruz, Doug Degnan, Zorayda Diaz, Juan Doroteo, Grafton Doyle, Terea Gutierrez, Alma J. Guzman, Javier Lopez Infante, Ramiro Lopez Infante, German Antonio Lopez, Walter Masuda, Marleny Medina, Moises Mena, Nora Z. Mena, Isa Miller, Eduardo Martinez, S. Pickarski, W. Pickarski, Bobby Soto, Leslie Soto, Robert Soto, S. Taromi. Co-producer: Monica Lee Bellais.
Crew: Director: Nick Frangione. Screenplay: David Hauslein. Camera (color, widescreen, HD): Anna Franques Solano. Editor: David Barker. Music: Chris Brokaw.
James Le Gros, Kevin J. O'Connor, Amy Hargreaves, Alicia Goranson, Jim Parrack, Angus Macfayden, Nolan Lyons.
Film News Roundup: Palm Springs Film Festival Honors 'Green Book' With Vanguard Award
admin Awards, Festivals, Green Book, News, Palm Springs Film Festival	Awards, Festivals, Green Book, News, Palm Springs Film Festival
In today's film news roundup, "Green Book" gets a festival honor, the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild names lifetime achievement winners, and indies "Tyger Tyger" and "Sons of the Cross" are heading into production.
The Palm Springs International Film Festival will present the drama "Green Book" with the Vanguard Award at its annual film awards gala on Jan. 3.
The Vanguard Award is a group honor for a film's cast and director in recognition of their collective work on an exceptional film project. Actors Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali as well as director Peter Farrelly are expected to attend.
"Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali are an on-camera dream team in the crowd-pleasing film 'Green Book,' inspired by a true friendship, about a New York City bouncer hired to drive and protect pianist Dr. Don Shirley on a concert tour in the Deep South," said festival chairman Harold Matzner. "Director Peter Farrelly, who also co-wrote the script, delivers a heartfelt movie-going experience that is guaranteed to receive awards attention for the actors, its director and the film itself. It is our honor to present the Vanguard Award to 'Green Book.'"
Past recipients of the Vanguard Award include "The Shape of Water" and "La La Land."
Susan Cabral-Ebert and Robert Louis Stevenson have been selected to receive lifetime achievement awards from the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild.
The awards will presented at the guild's gala at L.A. Live on Feb. 16.
Cabral-Ebert has been the president of the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild for the past 15 years. She received Primetime Emmy nominations for "ER," "And the Beat Goes On: The Sonny and Cher Story," and "MADtv." Her credits include "LA Law," "The Perfect Storm," "Erin Brockovich," "Pleasantville," and "Dead Poets Society." Her presidency of the guild, which operates as Local 706 of the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, has lasted for an unprecedented five terms.
Stevenson's career in motion pictures spanned 40 years and he continues to serve as a wig designer and consultant on films since his retirement. He is the first male black hair stylist in Local 706. He won a Primetime Emmy for "The Jesse Owens Story" and was nominated for "The Atlanta Child Murders" and "The Jacksons: An American Dream." He won a Hollywood Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Award for "The Butler."
PROJECT STARTS
Sam Quartin, Dylan Sprouse, and Craig Stark have signed on to star in the Independent feature "Tyger Tyger" for first time director Kerry Mondragon.
Shooting begins Dec. 1 in Slab City, Calif. Set during the 1990's AIDS crisis, the story follows a woman (Quartin) and her group of selfless thieves, who rob a pharmacy, kidnap a young heroin addict (Sprouse), and hit the road to distribute AZT medication. They find themselves trapped in the fringe lands of a lawless psychedelic city of surviving outcasts.
Mondragon is producing with Salvatore Sclafini. Quartin's credits include "Run with the Hunted," "Let Me Make You a Martyr," and "By the Rivers of Babylon." Sprouse was a successful childhood actor, starring in "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" with his twin brother Cole. Stark is known for his work with Quentin Tarantino, who cast him in "Django Unchained" and "The Hateful Eight.
Quartin is repped by Jane Berliner at Authentic Talent and Literary Management. Stark is repped by Allan Mindel at Framework Entertainment and Sprouse is repped by WME and Bonnie Liedtke at Authentic Talent and Literary Management.
Winter State Entertainment and Incorporated Productions have partnered to produce the upcoming thriller "Sons of the Cross."
The project, based on a screenplay and story by Patrick Gallagher, is a spiritual tale of good versus evil told through the life of a New York detective thrust in the middle of a global conspiracy after investigating a series of brutal murders. Producers are Mike Reinboth and Patrick Gallagher at Incorporated Productions, and Camille and Hamid Torapbour and Mark Smith at Winter State Entertainment.
Casting is underway with plans for principal photography to commence in the first quarter in Pittsburgh and New Orleans. Winter State's slate includes the Vans Warped tour film, "Summertime Dropouts," "Brother's Keeper," starring Laurence Fishburne and Milo Gibson; and "Outbreak Z," directed by Chris Brewster.