Sundance Film Festival Review: Smash His Camera

by Whitney Borup

I went into “Smash His Camera” expecting it to be a conventional, glossy, professional documentary. There’s nothing wrong with typical documentaries – I enjoy them very much – but it’s always nice to see someone try something new. In many ways “Smash His Camera” follows the formula, but it is in the areas that the film departs from traditional documentary form that it becomes really interesting.

One departure from the usual is in the subject itself: here is a sympatheticportrayal of a member of the paparazzi. There have been a lot of films deriding these photographic parasites, pointing out how annoying they are, how untalented and unartistic they are, even claiming that the paparazzi have been responsible for deaths. But “Smash His Camera” focuses on one man – the man, really – who may have a despicable job, but is certainly not a monster. This film presents Ron Galella as the guy that really popularized celebrity photographs in the US. It’s easy not to like the paparazzi. It’s hard not to like Ron Galella. He has loads of money, lives in a ridiculously big house filled with boxes of negatives, and yet remains fairly good humored and – just a little – trashy. His house is decorated with fake plants, silk flowers, and plastic trinkets. He goes from celebrity to celebrity taking their pictures, annoying them, and then giving them a signed copy of his book. In other words, he’s quite charming!

Galella "stalking" Jackie O.

My favorite aspect of the documentary was the departure it took from the traditional “talking heads” approach. After getting all his interviewees initial opinions, director Leon Gast places a bunch of people with strong, conflicting opinions in a room together and lets them hash it out. This is especially interesting when Gast gets the two lawyers together that argued in Jackie Kennedy Onassis’s lawsuit against Galella. It’s fun to watch people shit talk each other; it’s even more fun to watch them argue about all their shit talking.

“Smash His Camera” may not take on a heavy, life changing subject, but Gast’s representation of Galella is thoughtful and sympathetic and offers a new viewpoint on a profession we thought we already knew everything about.

Smash His Camera
Directed: Leon Gast

USA, 87 min.

Review: Shuttle

By Jessica Baxter

At 2:30 in the morning, it’s tempting to accept a ride from anyone who seems to be in the ride-giving business. And who knows, maybe it’s your lucky day. But maybe the guy behind the wheel actually has nefarious plans that don’t involve reuniting you with your fluffy duvet anytime soon.

“Shuttle” is one of these worst-case scenarios. Returning from a trip to Mexico in the wee hours, Mel and Jules, who have been friends for, like, 10 million years, are anxious to get home. The driver of a small shuttle service offers to undercut Big Shuttle and take the girls downtown. The pouring rain and a cash shortage encourage them to accept. Seth and Matt, just want an excuse to talk for a bit longer to the cute girls they met in Mexico, so they manage to worm their way onto the shuttle too. Also along for the ride is a squirrely family man named Andy. Perhaps the doomed passengers realize something is wrong when the driver insists on taking a traffic detour in the middle of the night, but by then it’s too late. They’re already trapped on a shuttle with a mad man. His true intentions aren’t revealed until the very end, but it quickly becomes clear that he doesn’t mean for anyone to get home.

Despite a few “twists”, Edward Anderson’s script isn’t particularly inspired. This is one of those thrillers in which the main characters have ample escape opportunities but, for whatever flimsy reasons, decide not to take them. The protagonists are pretty cookie cutter “young person” and their conflicts, designed to create character development, are pretty trite. “Shuttle” purports to be smarter than it is. Still, keeping the driver’s motive a secret makes for a riveting enough story. You also have to give credit for a reasonably original ending. It also helps that the acting is competent enough to not be distracting. You might not take much away from this film, but it’s an entertaining way to spend an afternoon. And maybe it will give you pause the next time you need a ride somewhere. Remember, ladies: Yellow Cab takes credit cards.

Shuttle (2009)
Written & Directed by Edward Anderson
Cast: Tony Curran, Peyton List, Cameron Goodman , Cullen Douglas
Rated R
107 minutes
Future Films

Sundance Film Festival Review: Boy

by Whitney Borup

In Boy’s mind, his dad is a professional criminal, brave soldier, and brilliant pop star, all wrapped into one. He’s away in jail for now, but Boy spends a lot of time getting to know his estranged father through his own fantasies. Then his dad comes home, and Boy has to come to terms with his father not quite living up to his expectations. In fact, Boy has to come to terms with his father being a total loser.

New Zealand cinema has a history of creating believable, engaging child characters with the help of talented non-actors they find in Maori villages. Infectious smile, innocent hero-worship, and his protective relationship over his brother make Boy the kind of kid you would want to get to know. Equally compelling are his friends named after soap operas (Dallas, Dynasty and Falcon Crest), his six-year-old brother who believes he has superpowers, and his tiny, dirty, round-faced cousins.

In a film full of pop culture references from 1984, “Boy” manages to not sound pretentious. Rather, every American cultural phenomenon that influences this small Maori village is greeted with an innocent acceptance by the inhabitants. Like Boy’s father, America is far, far away, and sometimes myth is much better than the truth.

Boy
Directed and Written: Taika Cohen
Starring: James Rolleston, Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu, and Taika Cohen
New Zealand, 87 min.