BUFFALO 66
Reviewed by Harvey Karten, Ph.D. Lions Gate Films Director: Vincent Gallo Writer: Vincent Gallo, Alison Bagnall Cast: Vincent Gallo, Christina Ricci, Anjelica Huston, Ben Gazzara, Kevin Corrigan, Mickey Rourke, Rosanna Arquette, Jan-Michael Vincent
If you can't get the love you want, then want the love you get. This appears to be the central purport of Vincent Gallo's "Buffalo 66," a quirky, autobiographical tale of the writer- director's younger days in the cold and snowy town of Buffalo, New York. Gallo is unashamedly on an ego trip with this one, having scripted the story, helmed the production, and even composed the music (he is a former rock musician). Billy Brown (Vincent Gallo), named for the Buffalo Bills football team by his mother, Janet (Anjelica Huston)--who is a devoted fan even to the point of obsession--seeks to win the affection of his parents. We in the audience see that this quest is a lost cause and we understand how its pursuit has affected Billy's life so greatly, but Billy appears clueless. His off-putting mannerisms--his tough-guy stance, his unapproachability, even his fear of being touched by a pretty girl--are all recognizable defenses for the young man's insecurity. But Billy has the luck to meet a delightful young woman, one who falls in love with him in a single day, making the entire movie appear to be a typical male fantasy.
Nor does Gallo seem to mind that his picture will be treated as a fabrication. Calling the production a fable rather than one which should be taken literally, Gallo has filmed his sequences with reversal stock, giving Buffalo the eerie look of a decaying city half buried in snow highlighted by a seedy motel, a sleazy strip joint owned by a former athlete now going to pot, and a tap-dance class populated by seemingly despairing women following the rhythms of a chirpy instructor. Photographer Lance Acord underscores the cheerlessness by filming with a harsh, blue background, frequently jump-cutting to keep the momentum and resorting to an occasional scene- within-scene collage as the principal figure conjures up his past.
The story opens as Billy is released from prison, having served five years for a crime he did not commit. Having told his parents that he was actually engaged in a long-time, secret project for the government, he calls to tell them that he's on his way home. In a final pitch to impress them, he kidnaps a girl, Layla (Christina Ricci) from a dance class and forces her to accompany him to his parents' home and to play the role of his wife. Rather than become terrified, Layla enjoys the escapade with its opportunity to play the actress, and charms her "mother-in-law" Janet and Janet's husband Jimmy (Ben Gazzara) more than their own son had ever been able to do.
We learn the reason the forced confession that sent Billy to the pen and follow him as he relates to his slow-minded friend Goon (Kevin Corrigan), to the manager of his favorite bowling alley, Sonny (Jan-Michael Vincent), and to a woman on whom he one had a crush, Wendy (Rosanna Arquette).
The central scene, a fairly original take on the age-old theme of dysfunctional family, accommodates the film's lively and idiosyncratic sense of humor. As Billy sits at the table watching his captive "girl friend" Layla tells lies to his parents, prevarications designed to make him look good in front of his unappreciative family, dad tries to conceal his hostility with silence while mom spends more time relating to her TV set which is showing a game with her favorite team.
If this movie can overcome a serious implausibility factor, it would rank as a solid contribution to the low budget family of films which have been showcased at the Sundance Festival. Feminists may be repelled by the implication that women are just looking to be taken by force. Billy has enough of a chip on his soldier to alert any normal person to stay away, and is able to turn his life around by gaining the instant love of his kidnap victim. An unkempt, unshaven guy who is repelled by the touch of another human being, he is far from the type who can attract the affection of Layla, even given the reality that the girl is as lonely as he. (Why this charming creature with a kewpie-doll appearance would lack boy friends is likewise unexplained, nor are we privy to anything in her background save for her involvement in a tapdance class.) Christina Ricci delivers here and is a performer to watch. Having turned in roles in "The Addams Family" and "Addams Family Values" and "The Ice Storm," she is soon to appear in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" while Gallo, known to some for his part in Calvin Klein commercials, should be able to parlay his ego into solid movie positions in the future. "Buffalo 66" features a few scenes that might have come out of a film school student's imagination--particularly one in which Billy shoots a former pro football player in the head--but compels attention by the sheer chutzpa of its telling. Rated R. Running time: 112 minutes. (C) Harvey Karten 1998
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