Glue (2006)

The teenage years may be a self-conscious, insecure phase, but Glue, the debut feature film by Alexis Dos Santos, is a confident little film and a poised first feature from a young director.

The film follows two sixteen-year-old boys, Lucas and Nacho, as they wander around their desolate hometown in the Patagonian region of Argentina. It’s summertime and the boys have nothing to do besides ride bikes, write songs for their band and fantasize about getting laid. They meet Andrea, a girl their age, and together they explore their blossoming sexuality. The three young actors (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Nahuel Viale and Inés Efron) all contribute courageous performances as we spy on them at their most vulnerable and intimate. The characters are displayed as unsentimentally as possible like when Nacho tries vainly to relieve his frustration by masturbating and Andrea aching for a boy to French kiss has to instead settle for her glass shower door.

At times rowdily chasing after the protagonists, Dos Santos’ handheld digital camera occasionally manages to settle down long enough to capture some beautiful images. The digital film soaks up the sun drenched colors of the scorching afternoons as well as the cool blue light as Lucas’ family struggles to set up a tent on a camping trip before night falls.

The improvised script gets a little awkward by the end, but let’s face it, teenagers are awkward creatures. They want to be adults, have responsibility, and most of all, sex, but are unsure how to achieve those goals. Glue, portrays this uncomfortable, angst-ridden age so palpably you can practically smell the sweaty hormones waft from the screen.

The Illusionist (2006)

Magic shows and movies have a lot in common. Both require the audience to suspend their disbelief and become deeply involved in the production. Both require the actors to construct the scene convincingly and consistently. However, as in Neil Burger’s The Illusionist, if one aspect of the spectacle is lacking, the entire creation crumbles.

The film centers on a magician, Eisenheim (Edward Norton) who falls for an aristocrat, Sophie (Jessica Biel) in turn-of-the-century Vienna. Sophie is betrothed to Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), who, like all crown princes it seems, is a jealous sadistic prick prone to chewing scenery. With the help of his magical illusions, Norton uses his cunning (and one dinger of a twist ending) to win the woman he loves.

Known for really sinking his teeth into past roles in Primal Fear, American History X and, more recently, Down in the Valley, here, Edward Norton seems to let his goatee do most of the acting for him. That, along with a handful of intense stares and moody brow arches adds up to one disappointing cardboard performance.

Despite the sluggish pace, the wooden performances and a few misjudged, laughable accents, Paul Giamatti’s especially, the film is a pleasure to look at. The costumes, art direction and cinematography are beautiful. Filming the characters amid the glorious Austrian countryside and the cobblestone Viennese streets, the cinematography tries desperately to make up for the passion so desperately lacking in the plot, dialogue and main characters.

The Motel (2005)

Every town has one. The sleazy, pay-by-the-hour motel frequented by tricks and johns, businessmen on weekend benders and families stranded on skid-row. In Michael Kang’s touching film The Motel, a thirteen year old Chinese-American boy, Ernest (newcomer Jeffrey Chyau), navigates the tumultuous rapids of pubescence while helping his single-parent family with the day to day operations of their dingy motel.

Being a self-conscious, hormonal teenager is not an envious situation to be in and Kang refuses to sentimentalize Ernest’s coming of age. Changing stained sheets and flushing spent condoms are part of Ernest’s daily routine. Ernest, who is being raised by his task-master mother, finds a father figure in Sam, a self-destructive guest of the motel. In between draining bottles of Johnny Walker and bedding as many prostitutes as his wallet will allow, Sam bonds with Ernest over late-night fried chicken binges. Sam, in an effort to redeem himself, decides to help the young boy become a man. However, not all goes according to plan.

Kang does seem to take pleasure in humiliating his characters slightly and no lessons are learned easily. One scene has Ernest and Sam pulling over on a desolate road and manically shouting “I want to be happy now!” into the night sky. However, Kang does allow some sunlight to peer into the abysmal motel. At the movie’s core is a loving immigrant family struggling to survive the tug of war of growing up in an environment that leaves little to the curious boy’s imagination.