Sleepers on DVD
As August approaches and this summer of big scale bombast movies begins to dial down the hype machine, the desire to see smaller scale movies about real people begins to dominate my thoughts. It’s why I so look forward to my annual trek to the Toronto Film Festival in September. It is also why those occasional character driven movies like the fabulous Waitress and the very funny Knocked Up are so appreciated as a summer change of pace.
As a film critic, I like to think that I don’t let too many sleeper gems, small scale films that offer the simple pleasures of real characters and emotions, slip by unnoticed. However, if I have been guilty of the sin of omission, or of living in a town that isn’t exactly a hotbed of alternative cinema, Netflix bails me out.
I’ve found several gems in my recent Netflix envelopes including Aurora Borealis, The Dead Girl and Black Snake Moan. Sometimes I’ll get the notice that a film is coming, a selection I made months ago, and I’ll wonder, what movie is that?
Four years ago, I signed up for a free tryout of a new DVD-by-mail service called Netflix. You went on-line to set up your list of movies, and the first three available were sent to your home. You watched them at your leisure, with no late fees. When you sent back a movie in a pre-paid envelope, the next movie on your list was sent to you. Despite the fact that the local Blockbuster had tons of movie titles available, I found myself relying on Netflix for all my video needs. Why? Well, the no late fee aspect was attractive, and the $20 a month fee was reasonable. I usually averaged 12 to 15 movies a month. Even at the then $3-a-title rental price at the Blockbuster, that meant I was getting $39 to $45 worth of movies for the monthly fee. (These days the fee is $18 and movies at the local video store are $4.50 a title so the savings are even greater.)
Duane Hopwood, an engaging low-key look at a man whose life is spinning out of control due to his alcoholism, recently came out on video. Starring David Swimmer and written and directed by Matt Mulhern (who grew up in Longport and co-starred in the TV series Major Dad), the film is set in Atlantic City and was filmed there in Feb., 2004. If you rent the DVD (Roger Ebert put it in his top 10 for 2005), look closely at the coffee table during a scene when Duane’s friend Gina (Susan Lynch) drops by Duane’s home in the rain. Sitting on the table is a copy of Atlantic City Weekly (the Feb. 5, 2004 issue to be exact), featuring a rodeo rider on the cover.
However, there is a little movie you might want to check out on DVD. Duane Hopwood (2005), stars David Schwimmer as a drunk trying to get his life back together. It was filmed in Atlantic City and Longport in 2004, and if you look closely, you will see a scene that features a copy of Atlantic City Weekly on a coffee table. I interviewed Schwimmer, an interview you can read by accessing the archives link for Nov. 17, 2005 on the