BELLFLOWER

(director/writer: Evan Glodell; cinematographer: Joel Hodge; editors: Evan Glodell/Joel Hodge/Jonathan Keevil/Vincent Grashaw; cast: Evan Glodell (Woodrow), Jessie Wiseman (Milly), Tyler Dawson (Aiden), Rebekah Brandes (Courtney), Vincent Grashaw (Mike); Runtime: 105; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Vincent Grashaw/Evan Glodell; Oscilloscope Laboratories; 2011)

“Hey dude, this low-budget pic sucks big time!“

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Debut feature by 31-year-old writer-director-star-gadget-creator Evan Glodellis an intense apocalyptic male fantasy film about being a geek loser getting pissed, seeing how many times he can say awesome or dude, and his wanting to vent his anger on the world with a bit of mass destruction for his personal sufferings. Two friends from Wisconsin now living in LA, Woodrow (Evan Glodell) and Aidan (Tyler Dawson), cling together after Woodrow is crushed when his recent neurotic aggressive girlfriend Milly (Jessie Wiseman), someone he met at a bar’s cricket eating contest, dumps him because it’s in her DNA to eventually hurt her lovers. The cheeky Aidan builds for his forlorn friend a Mad Max–styled muscle car called the Medusa (a 1972 Buick Skylark), that will feature a built-in flamethrower, to cheer him up.

The incoherent pic, that makes it difficult to tell what’s real or imagined and is clueless in how to deliver drama other than through hysteria, thrives on misery and revenge as an answer to failed love relationships, and throws out a dark valentine to straight male misanthropes that they can have a satisfactory life together by running around with disposable women.

Hey dude, this low-budget pic sucks big time!

REVIEWED ON 10/29/2011 GRADE: C-