 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
| Sam & Joe Synopsis |
A heart-wrenching story of an abusive relationship. It’s a familiar theme, but one of the unique qualities that sets this film apart, is that the couple in question share barely a moment of screen time. Instead, this tragedy is revealed through parallel action, voice-over and their relationships with others. This is a performance piece in the purest sense. The camera, which is almost entirely hand-held, will often linger on the close-up for more than a minute. This approach provides the kind of intimacy reminiscent of John Cassevettes, or Ingmar Bergman.
movie reviewed by lasvegasweekly.com
Despite an Intellegent script, the hard-hitting undertone of domestic violence and a riveting performance by New York theater actor Michael T. Ringer, Sam and Joe never manages to get over the feel of a master’s thesis at a film school. The handheld camera is jarring, and the film isn’t cut smoothly; dialogue comes across all too often abrupt and stilted.
Still, I won’t get this little movie out of my mind easily. Sam and Joe is a dark love story with several eccentric twists. When the film opens, Joe (Ringer) is busy with a cute pickup (Gina Phillips) in a sleazy motel room. When she bolts to the bathroom, saying wearily, “I know, you’re worried your wife will find out,” Joe isn’t. “She won’t find out,” he tells her, “because she’s dead.” The film is told mostly in flashbacks, the bulk of which are devoted to Sam (Petra Wright, the director’s wife), a slim, pretty blonde, and her boyfriend, Eric (Jeffrey Donovan). Little by little, the script weaves in Joe, who is gradually revealed as an abuser, alcoholic, and ultimately, a killer.
In an interesting twist, Sam and Joe never play a scene together until the end of the film. But by that time we know everything, except the grisly details. That is the one major flaw in the script. Audiences are voyeuristic by nature, and morbid as the details might be, the audience still wants to know about them.
Sam and Joe was shot for next to nothing, and the film embodies both the good and the bad about indies. No one can reasonably expect Spielberg-like editing or Lucas-like sound at this level, but this is a film that would have benefited greatly from more professional editing.
At the same time, though, it is the sort of script only an independent producer would have green-lighted, and nothing was compromised in the telling of the tale. So the film is never boring or predictable, like most of the studio blather filling screens these days. And that alone is redemptive, enough to make a film worth seeing.
movie reviewed by hollywoodbitchslap.com
A good way to judge how engrossing a movie is, is to have the DVD image suddenly BLOOM into an explosion of pixels and glitches. 45 minutes into Sam & Joe, I figured that either the disc was damaged or my player needed a scrub. As I popped up to remedy this irritant, I found myself hurrying a little bit... because I actually CARED about what was going on in the movie.
Clearly made with limited funds, but housing a surprisingly personal tale of love and loss, Jason Ruscio's Sam & Joe certainly isn't the most polished little indie you'll ever see. But the story's the thing, and if a movie can keep me engrossed despite some technical glitches and 'first-time-filmmaker' speed bumps, then it's a movie I can recommend.
If all you like is polished studio product, you'll not appreciate the grass-roots delivery of Sam & Joe - but I get sent a whole lot of 'review my movie' movies, and this is one of the more insightful and involving 'people stories' I've seen in some time.
A bi-level character study told through a series of alternating flashbacks, Sam & Joe tells the tale of a relationship slowly devolving to the point of tragedy. Joe sits on a bar stool, flirting with a lovely gal. He mentions having a son, but little else in the way of personal information. After a one night stand, Joe divulges to his newfound friend that he used to be married to a wonderful woman - whom he ended up killing.
Then we switch to Sam's tale as she struggles to succeed at a new job while raising a 7-year old... all on her own. She slowly begins a tentative love affair with her new boss, only to return to Joe when he comes back on the scene. That Joe's proven to be physically abusive in the past is hardly a deterrent to Sam; she longs to return to a time when her family was truly happy.
Sadly, her optimism ends up her undoing.
Anyone who's had first hand experience with a situation like this (and really, who hasn't?) will find something to appreciate in Sam & Joe. To an outside observer, simplistic advice like "Don't go back to him" may seem helpful - but longtime romantic relationships inevitably plant seeds of loyalty. Sadly, this loyalty often clouds the judgment of even the clearest thinkers.
What Sam & Joe lacks in spit & shine, it certainly makes up for in realism. The cast, relative unknowns all, DO come across as unpolished performers - but clearly they're indie actors who actually possess some talent. Both leads are strong, though the luminous Petra Wright (XX/XY) impresses most consistently. Michael Ringer brings an everyman sadness to his performance and deftly manages to earn some sympathy for a character who IS a murderer - but clearly is not an evil guy. In a film like this, you can often SEE the performers "ACK-TING"; Wright and Ringer are quite natural.
It's evident that writer/director Jason Ruscio based his film on stuff he's dealt with first hand. I spend so much of my time watching Wizards and Spidermen and Matrixes; something small and chatty and from the heart is always a nice diversion.
back to filmography
|
|
| |
|
|
THURSDAYS
