The Low Down Review
by "Harvey S. Karten" (film_critic AT compuserve DOT com)April 12th, 2001
THE LOW DOWN
Reviewed by Harvey Karten
Shooting Gallery
Director: Jamie Thraves
Writer: Jamie Thraves
Cast: Aidan Gillen, Kate Ashfield, Dean Lennox Kelly, Tobias Menzies, Rupert Procter, Samantha Power, Deanna Smiles, Maggie Lloyd Williams, Agnieszka Liggett
Tonight I had a choice of seeing either Morgan Freeman and the adorable Monica Potter in "Along Came a Spider" or taking in a small movie by an untested director, "The Low Down," and I chose the latter. "Why in the world would you do that?" a colleague about to head to "Spider" asked in some disbelief. "Well," I replied, "I never came face to face with a serial killer and (hard to believe in these parlous times) never even saw a guy with his gun drawn," (at least not since my childhood days of playing with a cap pistol). Now I'm not against escapist movies and see quite a few each year but tonight I was in the mood for a bit of naturalism, a Chekhovian experience if you will. By that I mean I wanted to take a gander at ordinary people living in ordinary relationships who were in some ways like me, and serial killers do not fit the bill--at least not yet.
"The Low Down" is dominated by people in their late twenties: I can relate to that because in my former life I was 28 too. The conversations of the people in debut director Jamie Thraves's movie (whose script he penned as well) are so real, so recognizable, that I felt at times ashamed to be snooping on them, sharing their intimate secrets and expressions of vulnerability. Their dialogue seemed improvised and, sure enough, according to the press notes, Thraves did encourage his performers to be creative, but there's nothing amateurish about the way they carry themselves throughout the 96 minute story. This is not surprising considering that the lead, Aidan Gillen, may be acting against type in the role of young Frank but he is also a major player with a more aggressive role in the UK Channel 4's "Queer as Folk."
"The Low Down" is a slice of Frank's life: his relationship with two guys with whom he works as a creator of props for magic shows and TV game shows, Mike (Dean Lennox Kelly) and John (Tobias Menzies). Principally, though, the tale turns on the way that his relationship with the cute Ruby (Kate Ashfield--a London stage actor who has interpreted roles at the Royal Court) gives him impetus to change his life. Why should he change his life? For one thing, at his age he should be working toward his real goal: to be an artist, rather than a talented artisan adept at creating trivial stage props. For another, though he finally moves out of digs that he ostensibly shares with another into a decent-size flat in a not- too-fashionable area of North London, he is in and out of relationships while his friends are beginning to settle down and contemplate commitments.
What stands out especially in Aiden Gillen's performance is the way he conveys his inner knowledge of his situation. He doesn't try to kid himself. He knows there's something wrong with the way he communicates with his friends and especially with Ruby. When he's with his new girl friend whom he met when she, as a real estate agent, escorted him around some flats, he's fine in the outdoors. Indoors, though, he's uneasy with her, at one point kicking a soccer ball around with her and at another tossing cigarettes and catching them in his mouth, at least once in each ten tries while his girl, trying to be in synch with him, does likewise.
Did I say that Frank's friends have grown up? Let me correct that. To me, as someone who could possibly be their granddad (though a very young one), they appear at times obnoxious considering that they are post university and pushing thirty. John is repeatedly belittling the job he is doing making those stage props, needling his partners to such an extent that they are considering turning him loose, while Mike is wont to do hackneyed impressions of the rich and famous and getting drunk at parties. The only really non-Chekhovian scene--one which is welcome at this point into the movie because so little outer action takes place that when something hits the fan you're ready to cheer--involves a violent scene between John and Frank who are quaffing brew in a Norfolk pub and an inebriated macho man who curses them out and challenges them to a skirmish.
The film is not for everyone. "Nothing happens," could be a quote in the newspaper ad if the marketers feel like kidding around, and I wouldn't want a steady diet of authenticity. After all when naturalism was introduced onto the stage in 1870, it died a, well, natural death. Who wants to see nothing but what you might eavesdrop on in the street on any day? But as long as movies like "Along Came a Spider" are around, we should welcome a rest break now and then, just as we look forward to a number of times out for ordinary talk in any movie designed to appeal principally to the raw emotions of the audience.
Not Rated. Running time: 96 minutes. (C) 2001 by Harvey Karten, [email protected]
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