Deep in the Heart

In 2003, Mike D'Angelo's top four movies of the year were Gerry, a Gus Van Sant film about, um, I don't know. An existential crisis involving Matt Damon and Casey Affleck? Irreversible, the film post-Memento that's told backwards, and has a scene that dares you to leave the theater (and yet, you miss a wonderful second half, if you do). Dallas 362, which I hadn't seen, and knew almost nothing about except that Scott Caan directs. Finally, Bus 174, a documentary about a down-and-out street guy who decides to hold a bus hostage, while the media completely surrounds the bus waiting for his next move.

Last night, while trying to watch the brilliant Pretty Village, Pretty Flame, Justin decided that he didn't care for the film. It's foreign. It opens up with a guy cutting himself with sharp scissors, something of a wince-inducing scene. Scanning through the list of DVDs I hadn't seen, I wanted to watch Dallas 362.

Believe me, when I say I had no idea what this film was going to be about. I figured it would possibly be set in Dallas (it's not).

Scott Caan directs this film. Scott is the son of James Caan, who has been in a bunch of films. His most famous role? Hmm, maybe Sonny Corleone in the Godfather. Admittedly, if you haven't watched those films (I've only seen part 3, and they say it's awful), the only people you're likely to remember is Al Pacino and Marlon Brando. He was also the author in Misery. Given there are only two main characters in Misery, it's not hard to know who it is if you've seen the film.

Mike D'Angelo likes films that has unusual storytelling effects. I don't mean necessarily the big blockbusters like King Kong or any of the Star Wars series, many of which he didn't completely care for. But he's rated films like Mirrormask quite highly, which looks fantastic, but is oddly muted because the characters don't believe in the environment. It's a film that looks whimsical, with actors that seemed like that stumbled onto this set and wonder what's going on.

Mike has also enjoyed films like Memento and Irreversible, stories both told backwards. True, there is as much substance as style, but the style plays a huge part in these films.

The story in Dallas 362 could have been told without these effects, and its impact would have perhaps been as good. However, in a directorial debut, there's some sense that you want to put everything you can on the screen. This is almost the kind of freshman effort that you'd see the son of an actor do than actors in general. Because Caan's father has been in the acting business a long time, Scott surely grew up learning much of how the film industry works, even outside acting, learning the creative processes.

This is similar to the route Ron Howard took, as a child actor, who apparently has paid attention to a lot of films as he grew up. Usually, the most creative filmmakers are not actors, but filmmakers trying to make films.

The opening montage shows a bunch of black and white photos. The actors in the film are shown in tiny font, that grow big as they are emphasized. There's a film school quality about this film, yet, it shows the kind of maturity of someone who's had more experience.

OK, so what's this film about. Ultimately, it's about the things that happen in life that send us down the wrong paths. Shawn Hatosy plays Rusty, a kid from Texas who moved out to California because his dad, a rodeo clown, died, and his mom wanted to move as far away as possible.

He came to be friends with a guy named "Dallas" (is this the Dallas of Dallas 362?), who's a bit of a hustler and troublemaker. The two get into bar fights, and their job appears to be harassing folks to get money for bookies. Rusty's mom somehow puts up with all their antics, even though she can't stand it. As a viewer, you're wondering why does she put up with all this? You find out why.

You know how it is that John Woo films get categorized as homo-erotic? In his films, tough guys with guns hang out with other tough guys with guns, and it seems, they are the only ones that understand each other. Woo often likes to show that good and evil are two sides of the same coin. There's a really interesting film called Infernal Affairs which plays on an idea. A good cop is sent as a mole to a crime family (of sorts). A crime family son is sent to become a cop. Both are moles in each other's organizations. Very Woo, yet, not directed by Woo.

But the point people make is how guys are often closer to their male friends than to women, and this film skims about on this issue. Neither Rusty nor Dallas appear to have steady girlfriends, but they do have each other, and do think of each other like brothers.

Which is really important to the core of the story. Ultimately, Rusty has to make a decision about his life. He tells his mom that he's only good at a few things, most of which are illegal (hustling and fighting), and the one thing he can do well, his mom forbids him to do (rodeo cowboy). It's this relationship that is also being tested. When does a mom let go?

Admittedly, the Jeff Goldblum character is Goldblum as Goldblum. There's perhaps no other actor working that doesn't quite act, that plays nerdy characters, and yet, he's perfect being just that character in this film. He's a gimmick in the film in that you end up thinking there's no other person to play that role than Goldblum, and he's not doing anything particularly different than he does in any other role.

This story is really about how Dallas saves Rusty's life, in that, Rusty had nowhere to go, nothing he could really do, and Dallas gave him some purpose, even if this purpose also lead nowhere, and evolves to how Rusty realizes, despite what Dallas has done for him (be a friend when he had none), that Dallas is poisoning him. Rusty wants to save Dallas too, to take him away from a life that's doomed to kill him, yet Dallas (played by Caan) is oblivious to the life he leads. He's sure that it will all pay off soon, and he can lead the life he's always dreamed of.

It's the kind of dream that many people have, especially those that are down and out. It takes maturity for Rusty to realize he's much happier with a much simpler life.

For all the flashy camera tricks, the funny comments, the annoying character living in a waste dump, the unlikely pairing of the mom and Goldblum, it's the story of growing up and being reponsible and letting go that's at the heart of the film.

Dallas 362 is a remarkable debut. Sure, there's the happy ending that most indie films often eschew, but it feels earned here.