Tusk
Dir: Kevin Smith
2014
***
To say Kevin Smith's Tusk is a one off is a bit of an understatement. I know it's based on a story from one of his popular podcasts, I haven't heard them but am aware that they are largely improvised. This doesn't surprise me as the film does have the feel that it was conceived with the line; "Dude, wouldn't it be cool if....". It's a film of two halves, again leading me to suspect it was largely made up as they went along. The first half sees Justin Long and Haley Joel Osment as two rather detestable podcasters who interview internet celebrities. Their obvious delusions of self-importance and the fact that a job title and that people like this do actually exist and are successful is enough to warrant the disdain of the audience but their exaggerated arrogance and lack of empathy make them two very hateable characters. So when the film turns into a lesson in morals and we see Long get his comeuppance, we have very little sympathy and almost feel all is right in the world of karma. Then it goes too far. I've never loathed a character as much before but does he deserve to be turned into a Walrus? You heard me right readers. In the world of the horror film; If you act like a dick, have sex or do drugs then you are destined for badness. These are the rules. However, the punishment seems a little harsh here and the film descends into a weird sort of comedy torture-porn. It starts off like Misery and then turns into a Frank Henenlotter film, in fact I do wonder if Smith thought "I know, let's remake Misery in the style of Frank Henenlotter!". It's an amazing film, however, once you strip it down to its bare bones there really isn't that much to it. It is an interesting look at Hollywood justice, Smith parodies the modern horror film without imitating a particular film and raises interesting points, although I'm not sure how many are intentional. It's a pretty subjective film but the fact that it was conceived and made in such a short amount of time makes me think it really isn't as deep as one could think. I love film analysis as I know Smith does but I think this is him fishing for serendipitous success. It's never going to be mainstream but then I think cult status is where Smith was really aiming for. Mission accomplished. It's nuts. Michael Parks is brilliant and Justin Long is impressively annoying and convincing as a Walrus. The jury is still out on Johnny Depp's performance, it's not great but it's impossible to look away from. It's somewhere between masterpiece and utter crap, which is quite an achievement to be fair!