Roman

Jeez...apparently, Lucky McKee can do no wrong. Like an album by an indie artist buried under a pile of Top 40 junk, it is often hard to remember that the horror genre DOES have an existence outside of Rob Zombie, Eli Roth, and the "Saw" franchise. But is "Roman" really a horror film? McKee himself has found the tag questionable, as his films are more about relationships than anything else. "Roman," directed by actress Angela Bettis, is a gender reversal on McKee's breakout debut, "May" (in which Bettis starred), but blossoms into yet another singularly unique entity. Roman (McKee, who also scripted) is a remote, shy welder who leads a lonely existence; his daily excitement comes from sitting in front of his apartment window as an anonymous, beautiful girl (Kristen Bell) walks by; when the duo finally hook up, it meets an unexpected end. While McKee's hangdog expression can be overdone at times, he nails the nuances of a tormented, lovelorn guy, which becomes even more complex when Eva (the beautiful Nectar Rose), a foliage-wearing artist, enters his life. The beauty of watching "Roman" unravel is this awareness of relationship mechanics--seldom does character motivation feel contrived, nor does it come off with a sanitized "Hollywood" feel (the use of DV further helps this). As with "May," McKee finds ways to make potential shock-value scenes play with a tenderness (or humor) that is even more effective. And maybe as a titular nod to Polanski, the film bears a similarity to that director's tales of paranoid and/or sexually confused apartment-dwellers trying to sustain a day-to-day existence without (literally) killing someone. "Roman" is a wonderful film, sure to be on my "Best of 2007" list (even though it came out last year).

"Roman" takes the form of a thriller, but functions more as a surprisingly low key character study. An isolated, sad, socially awkward young man works at a factory where he has no friends, and lives alone in a depressing apartment. His only joy is watching a beautiful young neighbor he fantasizes about. In a stroke of luck he ends up on a date with her, but things go horribly, tragically wrong. Before long he has struck up a relationship with a new, free-spirited but death obsessed young artist who has moved into the building, but he remains unable to fully invest himself in the relationship, largely for fear of things going wrong again.

The film was shot on low quality video, and looks very rough, but there are times when that adds to the intimate 'reality' feel. At other times it just looks a little cheap. There's a surprising amount of humor, and Lucky McKee, who wrote the script as well as playing the lead does a good job a creating a very strange protagonist you still find yourself feeling for. Certainly this has it's fair share of flaws, and moments that don't quite come off, but it has originality and bravery on it's side, and in it's best moments it achieves a sort of David Lynch vibe. For a first feature Angela Bettis acquits herself nicely.

First off I want to say I can't believe all the people criticizing this movie for the bad picture quality and type of camera used.I think it helped to give it more realism and it may have been done for a reason.Or it could be because it's a low budget film and they had no choice.It kind of came off as an experimental or student film.The only thing I didn't like was an annoying noise during the the live sound not being edited out. The noise in the background sounded like a cat meowing throughout a lot of the movie.It was distracting and even one of my cats got up and kept looking around the room. Lucky McKee who wrote and starred in this film did a nice convincing performance of a lonely, isolated and disturbed man.There was a scene while he was being ridiculed at work and the topic of masturbation came up and I burst out in laughter.I found the scenes with Roman and his co-workers on their lunch break extremely comical and well portrayed,I mean that kind of sh*t happens! Roman has his dull daily routine and seems to lead a meaningless life.He eats nothing but pork and beans and sits by his window looking out it drinking beer. It would have been nice to understand how he loses his grip of reality.It would be nice to see the events that led up to it, but everyone involved in this project was having too much fun making it and not caring what direction it took.I like these kinds of weird,twisted films now and then.I liked Isis(the girl) played by Kristen Bell.She was so friendly, naive and sweet but Unfortunately her encounter with Roman ended tragically. And then there is Eva(played by Nectar Rose).At first I thought Eva was the sister of Isis out to avenge her sister's death because the cop that visited the building mentioned the missing girl's sister was looking for her.And also she was also trying to get inside an apartment by involving Roman going to the landlord.But then by the end of the movie I wasn't sure if she even existed at all and thought she was Roman's imaginary girlfriend.I didn't understand the ending and found parts of the movie confusing.Roman became a bigger nut case and found Eva's death amusing. I can see how some people may find this movie confusing, dull,morbid, or boring and strange.You have to like black comedies,off-beat thriller's,or appreciate different type of films.I liked some of the deleted scenes especially the alternative Roman dream sequence and think it should have been in the film.It was a very entertaining sequence and i'm not sure why it wasn't used.Whether or not the people involved with making this movie took it seriously or not,I still enjoyed it.It started off slow but kept my interest.

I watched and watched and kept thinking 'i'll give it ten more minutes'. The film is obviously low budget, (maybe more financial interest may have hurried it along a bit). The lead actor is great, he plays the role great, definitely the type of guy you'd avoid. However,he sits in his apartment, and he sits, and he sits, and he sits, and he goes to work, and then home, and then work and then home....get the point.

There are people out there like that, and the story line is menacing, but for heavens sake... hurry it along a bit. Surely in the pre-release stage, someone must have started fidgeting in the first ten minutes and said to the producer, 'shall we go back and tweak it to make it more interesting?' I can only assume that the response was...'too late the money's ran out' Enough said, go shopping instead!

Anything having to do with dead bodies, whether it's zombies, necrophilia, cannibalism, or autopsies, etcetera, you can usually count me out. I really don't much care how well the film is made.

Now I did say usually, because "Roman" kept my interest. I thought Lucky McKee did an excellent job portraying a socially inept factory worker who is unable to control his fantasies, obsessions, and emotions. The viewer might be turned off by McKee's wooden and two-dimensional portrayal of Roman, but I believe this was intentional. If you don't believe there are really people out there like this, I'll introduce you to my sister-in-law's brother! Kirsten Bell and Nectar Rose were extremely sexy, Rose especially.

The film, obviously made on a low budget, didn't give anything away until the end, and was rather suspenseful. I can't say as I recommend "Roman", but I don't say avoid it at all costs either. It's not for everyone, and I'll leave it at that.