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Glass, Necktie review
:. Director: Paul Bojack
:. Starring: Eric Cadora, Nancye Ferguson
:. Running Time: 1:24
:. Year: 2001
:. Country: USA
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Unfolding slowly and meticulously, writer-director Paul Bojack's first feature film wraps the unaware characters—and spectators—in a web of complex relationships where loyalty proves to be more crucial than fidelity.
Somewhat the victims of their own environment—a blank city looking suspiciously like the valley and unhealthy marriages—a group of 30-somethings try to escape their boring lives through a quest for vitalizing thrills. Steve (Eric Cadora) forgets his much older wife while rolling in the sheets with beautiful Selena, (Nancye Ferguson) who, strangely, is married to geeky Mike, a professor who happens to be the brother of Steve's best friend, Alan (Kirk Stricker). In a town made of long deserted and anonymous streets, Alan's workplace, a print shop owned by Alex (Jeff Bergquist), a mellow, solitary but wise man, seems to be a socializing point. Everybody goes there and openly shares their life with Alex, who officiates like a priest, keeping everybody's secrets. Trying to spice up his relationship, Steve decides to befriend Mike but will get caught in an unexpected game of mirrors.
Bojack has created a multi-layered story through which he slowly guides us, switching from one group of characters to another, and finally absorbing us in its odd atmosphere. While the film is confusing and seems to go nowhere at first, some light touches of weirdness and humor foreshadow that something will happen and when it comes, the film suddenly reveals its subtlety. Bojack's world is absurd, sad and de-dramatized, staying grounded in reality, at the level of his characters, rather than serving cooked exploitative screenwriting tricks.
Shot on a very small budget, Glass, Necktie is limited by a few locations which, combined with the emphasis placed on the characters sometimes gives it the air of a play. Since the film is mostly psychological, the use of black & white proves to be a good match, as the neutral tone is more effective than a cliché grainy Dogma approach or some cheap video shots. While the limitations of a low budget are obvious in the abundance of shots of facades, Bojack's direction is inventive, using angles and references to art (see the photograph "Dreaming of objects" by Cherna Madoz). The acting is decent for a production of such a scale, and Kirk Stricker stands out from the cast, while the score is composed by ex-Devo Mark Mothersbaugh, who also serves as the musical alter-ego on the films of Wes Anderson/Owen Wilson. Glass, Necktie is a low-key, promising debut.
Fred Thom
 Movie Reviews: from 1998 to 2011
New Film Reviews since 2012
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