PIGEONHOLED
The sibling team of (writer-producer) Tripp and (writer-director) Michael Swanhaus joins the ever-expanding universe of filmmaking brothers with "Pigeonholed", a flighty black comedy with failed John Hughes-meets-John Waters aspirations.
Set in an institution for troubled rich kids, the film -- presented as part of the AFI Fest's New Directions section -- is seen through the eyes of 18-year-old Devon (Justin Pierce), an out-of-control suburban Connecticut kid whose fed-up father (an amusing Chris Noth) finally takes desperate measures.
With Devon duct-taped to the passenger seat, his father drops him off at the Sunny Meadows rehabilitation center, where he meets four other teens with "issues": overweight Gabby (Andrea Ciannavei), anorexic Kayleigh (Galaxy Craze), nymphomanical Eve (Allison Folland) and sexually confused Eric (Tom Lock).
As their respective families are presented via grainy home-movie footage -- in which Rosanna Arquette shows up as Devon's nutty mom -- it becomes apparent that the apple doesn't fall far from the dysfunctional tree.
But while the Swanhaus brothers, who share screenplay credit with Luke McMullen, work hard to goose their otherwise vapid, mumbly enterprise with a few outrageous bits, they're no Farrellys.
There's also no discernible visual style, other than what has been picked up from watching too many MTV videos.
Michael Rechtshaffen
BIRDCAGE INN
Melodrama is alive and well in "Birdcage Inn", Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-Duk's never-a-dull-moment portrait of a prostitute and the havoc she wreaks on the lives of a Po-Hang family.
Screened as an official selection of the AFI Fest, the film, sort of a flip on Pasolini's "Teorema", has the much-maligned, young Jin-Ah setting up shop at an inn of ill repute presided over by a no-nonsense matriarch and her quiet husband.
She has no trouble bringing in business when she's not butting heads with the couple's chaste young daughter, Hye-Mi, who's the same age as Jin-Ah but is always quick to remind her of their class differences. Their teenage son, meanwhile, is far more accommodating and plants a microphone in her "work" room in order to keep up with her activities.
Of course, Dad and junior both eventually have their way with her, and darn it even if her chief adversary doesn't come around by the end.
Although things get just a tad overwrought -- there hasn't been this much face-slapping on screen since Joan Crawford's heyday -- Ki-Duk certainly has a lively visual sense, peppering the potentially bleak landscape with bright, bold primary colors, while the funky translations provide some unintentional added amusement.
Michael Rechtshaffen...
The sibling team of (writer-producer) Tripp and (writer-director) Michael Swanhaus joins the ever-expanding universe of filmmaking brothers with "Pigeonholed", a flighty black comedy with failed John Hughes-meets-John Waters aspirations.
Set in an institution for troubled rich kids, the film -- presented as part of the AFI Fest's New Directions section -- is seen through the eyes of 18-year-old Devon (Justin Pierce), an out-of-control suburban Connecticut kid whose fed-up father (an amusing Chris Noth) finally takes desperate measures.
With Devon duct-taped to the passenger seat, his father drops him off at the Sunny Meadows rehabilitation center, where he meets four other teens with "issues": overweight Gabby (Andrea Ciannavei), anorexic Kayleigh (Galaxy Craze), nymphomanical Eve (Allison Folland) and sexually confused Eric (Tom Lock).
As their respective families are presented via grainy home-movie footage -- in which Rosanna Arquette shows up as Devon's nutty mom -- it becomes apparent that the apple doesn't fall far from the dysfunctional tree.
But while the Swanhaus brothers, who share screenplay credit with Luke McMullen, work hard to goose their otherwise vapid, mumbly enterprise with a few outrageous bits, they're no Farrellys.
There's also no discernible visual style, other than what has been picked up from watching too many MTV videos.
Michael Rechtshaffen
BIRDCAGE INN
Melodrama is alive and well in "Birdcage Inn", Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-Duk's never-a-dull-moment portrait of a prostitute and the havoc she wreaks on the lives of a Po-Hang family.
Screened as an official selection of the AFI Fest, the film, sort of a flip on Pasolini's "Teorema", has the much-maligned, young Jin-Ah setting up shop at an inn of ill repute presided over by a no-nonsense matriarch and her quiet husband.
She has no trouble bringing in business when she's not butting heads with the couple's chaste young daughter, Hye-Mi, who's the same age as Jin-Ah but is always quick to remind her of their class differences. Their teenage son, meanwhile, is far more accommodating and plants a microphone in her "work" room in order to keep up with her activities.
Of course, Dad and junior both eventually have their way with her, and darn it even if her chief adversary doesn't come around by the end.
Although things get just a tad overwrought -- there hasn't been this much face-slapping on screen since Joan Crawford's heyday -- Ki-Duk certainly has a lively visual sense, peppering the potentially bleak landscape with bright, bold primary colors, while the funky translations provide some unintentional added amusement.
Michael Rechtshaffen...
- 11/1/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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