Writer-director Jake Goldberger's debut film claims to be a neo-noir thriller, but this tale of an amateur con-game gone wrong tips its hat early on that it's not always meant to be taken at face value. Indeed, take a closer look at Don McKay and you may recognize a romantic comedy in disguise.
The film opens on the title character (Thomas Haden Church, Sideways), a forty-something high-school janitor, slicking down the halls of the school with a circular floor buffer and putting all his energy and concentration into the job. We sense that he's dependable, modest of purpose, accepting of his lot in life.
The letter he receives from Sonny (Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas), his girlfriend from high school some 25 years ago, knocks this modest man for a loop. She's asking him to come back to his hometown of Mount Raven on a matter of great urgency. Not inclined to question things too deeply, he's on a train within hours, headed back to his hometown.
After an arctic welcome into Sonny's house by Marie (Melissa Leo, Frozen River), the apparent gatekeeper-slash-nurse-slash-overseer, he finds his erotic letter-writer propped up in bed waiting for him in a silk dress that clings to her curvaceous body. He quickly learns that the delicious Sonny is dying of cancer with a short time left to live, which she wants to share with her old flame. Don would love to buy it all. What man wouldn't? The role of conscientious protector to the beautiful Shue sure beats buffing floors.
Needless to say, there's a reason Don has been summoned to the hottest, most libidinous cancer patient in this or any other town. Though Sonny's sudden desire for his companionship after a 25-year silence is never quite explained to his (or our) satisfaction, he's willing to go along with the set-up, especially as it includes her demand to bed down pronto, as though there's no time to lose. From her vigor between the sheets, you'd never suspect she has a terminal illness; so maybe Don isn't the gullible clod everyone presumes.
That said, for all the lapses in logic, it isn't until actual blood is spilled (in copious quantity) that everyone's veracity comes up for questioning. It takes a dead body and a kidnapping to blows things apart and reveal the truth behind the lunatic miscalculations that brought Don here. Canny viewers will sense some comedic overtones here: It's to the film's credit that it doesn't take itself too seriously.
If Shue's smokin' sensuality doesn't drive men to their local arthouse for the treat of watching her act like a needy vixen, fans of character actors will want to see supporting actress Leo in another unique portrayal that displays her range. Church plays the receptive, none-too-swift, nonthreatening scam target with a tone that makes it work. It may be of interest to some that he executive produced the piece.
Savvy viewers aren't likely to get too invested in these characters and their dilemmas, if only because the style of this parody of wish fulfillment will tip most of them off about the plot's misrepresentations in advance. The result is lightweight and undemanding -- not nearly as dark and sinister as the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple, its chief inspiration. It's a fun movie, but little more than that.
The film opens on the title character (Thomas Haden Church, Sideways), a forty-something high-school janitor, slicking down the halls of the school with a circular floor buffer and putting all his energy and concentration into the job. We sense that he's dependable, modest of purpose, accepting of his lot in life.
The letter he receives from Sonny (Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas), his girlfriend from high school some 25 years ago, knocks this modest man for a loop. She's asking him to come back to his hometown of Mount Raven on a matter of great urgency. Not inclined to question things too deeply, he's on a train within hours, headed back to his hometown.
After an arctic welcome into Sonny's house by Marie (Melissa Leo, Frozen River), the apparent gatekeeper-slash-nurse-slash-overseer, he finds his erotic letter-writer propped up in bed waiting for him in a silk dress that clings to her curvaceous body. He quickly learns that the delicious Sonny is dying of cancer with a short time left to live, which she wants to share with her old flame. Don would love to buy it all. What man wouldn't? The role of conscientious protector to the beautiful Shue sure beats buffing floors.
Needless to say, there's a reason Don has been summoned to the hottest, most libidinous cancer patient in this or any other town. Though Sonny's sudden desire for his companionship after a 25-year silence is never quite explained to his (or our) satisfaction, he's willing to go along with the set-up, especially as it includes her demand to bed down pronto, as though there's no time to lose. From her vigor between the sheets, you'd never suspect she has a terminal illness; so maybe Don isn't the gullible clod everyone presumes.
That said, for all the lapses in logic, it isn't until actual blood is spilled (in copious quantity) that everyone's veracity comes up for questioning. It takes a dead body and a kidnapping to blows things apart and reveal the truth behind the lunatic miscalculations that brought Don here. Canny viewers will sense some comedic overtones here: It's to the film's credit that it doesn't take itself too seriously.
If Shue's smokin' sensuality doesn't drive men to their local arthouse for the treat of watching her act like a needy vixen, fans of character actors will want to see supporting actress Leo in another unique portrayal that displays her range. Church plays the receptive, none-too-swift, nonthreatening scam target with a tone that makes it work. It may be of interest to some that he executive produced the piece.
Savvy viewers aren't likely to get too invested in these characters and their dilemmas, if only because the style of this parody of wish fulfillment will tip most of them off about the plot's misrepresentations in advance. The result is lightweight and undemanding -- not nearly as dark and sinister as the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple, its chief inspiration. It's a fun movie, but little more than that.
