Director: Jared Hess
Screenplay: Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess
Starring: Michael Angarano, Jemaine Clement, Jennifer Coolidge, Sam Rockwell, Halley Feiffer, Hector Jimenez
Jared Hess' third feature has come to U.K cinemas off the back of a very weak critical performance. film writers have not been kind to it and the film was pulled from theatrical release because of it. In a time where many have been bemoaning the death of film criticism, it's intriguing that the studio felt so threatened that they took such evasive action. This isn't to say they may not have had worries before. Much like Hess' Napoleon Dynamite, GB wishes to askew convention and defy basic definition.
Gentleman Broncos' offbeat sense of place and timing worked for me. Combining cringe comedy, gross out and small town slice of life with such an abstract rhythm gives off the feeling that Hess only really wants a niche market to tap into his movie. It doesn't all work, but I have to admit I laughed my ass off that at the stuff I found effective.
The film does of course have it's weak moments, much of them being Hess' reliance on the projectile humour, which comes out in spurts and gives mostly mixed reactions. A snake taking a shit on it's owner isn't just lowbrow but merely too cheap to bring any more than a a tiny titter (if that). However, watching the same owner (writer/actor Mike White) sitting on his car in a pose that's usually reserved for pit girls had me howling. Why is that funny? It is the context. The first thing I thought to myself was "he was clearly standing like that without anyone watching". Such a bizarre position for no reason had me going, as did the superb performance from Flight of the Concords cast member Jemaine Clement.
The role of Chevalier is a display of hilarious pomposity that steals the film from under the likable protagonist of Benjamin (A very straight but warm Michael Angarano). Flight fans will love it and others may take notice as Clement oozes with sleaze. You just want him to have as much screen time as others. In fact his performance made me forget that you have the fearless Sam Rockwell doubling up as not only a bollockless Dune character wannabe, but also a camp transvestite version of said bollockless Dune character wannabe. Both displays are good times. Jennifer Coolidge also lends her comic timing to this and looks very comfortable with the uncomfortable goings on.
It's a shame that less isn't done with characters like Halley Feiffer's Tabatha and Hector Jimenez's Lonnie, who are both pretty one note and mostly forgettable if not for their selfishness or face stretching respectively. Hess seems to introduce these characters as important but then almost assigns them to oblivion, through at one point their part of the narrative clearly overlaps with Clement's Chevalier's character's wrong doings.
However, with this said, Hess' film deal with the interesting notion of how problematic an idea is when it becomes tangible. It's low-key release is a sharp contrast to Hess' Nacho Libre (his second feature) and despite that film still having that same offbeat nature, you get the feeling that bigger may not have been better for the director of cult on that production. In watching Benjamin not only sell his story to be turned into a film, but nicked as well, it all feels a little personal. But I didn't find it as self indulgent as other reviewers have mentioned. I feel Hess may just know this world better than some of us. Not all dorks rush to fuck pies or take out porky's. I feel what Hess may be doing is showing us the underbelly of the underbelly* and as a director he brings out enough in his characters to make them interesting and to laugh with them as opposed to at them. I guess I'm saying the oddball works here, not the well worn.
*Jesus. How fucking pompous did I sound there!
