The Low Down Review
by Laura Clifford (lcliffor AT genuity DOT net)April 27th, 2001
THE LOW DOWN
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Frank (Aidan Gillen, "Some Mother's Son") is a slacker who spends his time with his buddies and coworkers. He's about to mature into a more settled lifestyle after seeing friends settle down and meeting realtor Ruby (Kate Ashfield, "The War Zone") in "The Low Down."
The third Shooting Gallery series got off to an auspicious start with "Last Resort," but, with the exception of "The Day I Became a Woman" (and potentially the last film of this series, "Eureka"), Shooting Gallery has been aiming low.
First/time writer/director Jamie Thraves' idea was to present someone on the cusp of leaving college days behind, unsure of what he's headed for, while leaving the state of the main character's change ambiguous. What he's achieved is a hit and miss affair that lacks a cohesive style and story.
We see Frank at work making television props for game shows that look like pieces of Mardi Gras floats when what he really wants to be is an artist. Buddy/coworker John (Tobias Menzies) is already straining at the bit, setting off alarms with Frank and their boss and drinking pal Mike (Dean Lennox Kelly). John's taking of a 'roommate' who he's in love with prompts Frank to look for a place of his own. He immediately generates sparks with his realtor Ruby, who'd rather be honest than make a commision, yet his arrested adolescence keeps him from opening up emotionally with her. In the end, Frank moves into one of the pricier places Ruby initially showed him.
"The Low Down" is so meandering I had trouble recalling exactly what happened the day after I saw it. The reason is because little does. The film's characters aren't compelling enough to make this effort stand as a character study either, although Aiden Gillen does bring a truthful bafflement to Frank. Thraves' film sometimes seems like a British 'Friends,' features a 'day-in-the-life' sequence, a fantasy sequence and even evokes "Breathless" in one scene featuring cigarette tossing, but while these individual moments have their payoff, they don't add up. (It should also be noted that Thraves features a completely gratituous male full frontal nude shot.)
Chilean Director of Photography Igor Jadue-Lillo was frustrated by Thraves' choice of fifty films for him to watch which had no unifying style. Neither does "The Low Down," except that it occasionally looks like it was shot on video by a short person (it was actually shot mostly handheld using 16mm and natural light).
"The Low Down" looks more like a film college thesis than a commercial feature, even for the art houses.
C-
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