BUFFALO '66 Directed by Vincent Gallo
"Buffalo '66," a love song to director-star Vincent Gallo by screenwriter Vincent Gallo (orchestrated, coincidentally, to the strains of music by Vincent Gallo), is the type of tripe that gives vanity productions a bad name. In fact, there's ample evidence to indicate that "Buffalo" may not actually have been scripted at all; most of its ambling, formless content looks and sounds suspiciously like failed improvisation, with a surplus of uneasy dialogue, wildly shifting attitudes and, most tellingly, the slightly queasy looks actors like Christina Ricci and Anjelica Huston exchange as they realize their scenes aren't working. It's some sort of a credit to Gallo that he managed to rope in names of Ricci and Huston's caliber in the first place, and how he managed to pull that off must be considerably more intriguing than "Buffalo '66" itself. If Gallo's gaunt, angular face looks familiar, it's probably from his appearances in the much-condemned "heroin chic" ads Calvin Klein ran a couple of years ago. As a supporting actor in edgy little films like Abel Ferrara's "The Funeral," Gallo has proven his meddle as a credible low-life. But he's not exactly brimming with charisma, a formidable handicap when you cast yourself as the star of your own movie. Luckily, Ricci has an excess of the magnetism Gallo lacks. She looks ridiculous throughout "Buffalo '66," sporting a brand of sky-blue eyeshadow that should have been discontinued after 1985, wearing a half-pound of gooey lip gloss and dressed in what looks like a cheap nightgown underneath a cardigan sweater. But so determined is Ricci to get inside the mind of her character Layla, a young woman so desperate for any kind of affection she willingly goes along with being kidnapped by ex-con Billy (Gallo), no one will laugh at her appearance. She's generally the only thing on the screen worth watching. Snatched out of tap dancing school and forced to masquerade as Billy's wife, Layla quickly gets with the program, perhaps sensing this could be some off-the-wall opportunity to finally find the warmth she's looking for. She proceeds to charm Billy's parents, and later in a cut-rate motel room she tries desperately to work her magic on Billy. The result is one of the most awkwardly played love scenes since John Travolta and Lily Tomlin struggled to look hot for one another in the classic howler "Moment By Moment." As Billy's football-crazy mom, Huston tries her best to wring comedy from Gallo's arid writing, but the part will only serve to remind viewers how much better Frances McDormand played a similar fanatic in director John Sayles' "Lone Star." Ben Gazzara, stuck playing Billy's closet lech of a dad, manages to keep his dignity, which is more than can be said for Rosanna Arquette, who turns up as a goofball former classmate. As a filmmaker, Gallo has a certain unpolished charm, and the flat lighting and grainy look of the picture suit the subject matter. The dropping in of little scenes within scenes to illustrate memories is also clever, although director Peter Greenaway used the technique to better advantage in "The Pillow Book." It's Gallo's unfunny, uninspired script that makes "Buffalo '66" a chore to sit through. Lines are said over and over again, ad nauseum: In one excruiating sequence with Layla and Billy in a photo booth, the phrase "span time" must be used at least 20 times. Martin Scorsese can get away with this kind of repetition; Gallo cannot. Supposedly, "Buffalo '66" was inspired by Gallo's poisoned relationship with his chilly parents, and perhaps Gallo is simply the latest semi-celeb to jump on the "I had a lousy childhood, so I'm entitled to be an obnoxious adult" bandwagon initially launched by Roseanne and recently hijacked by Bill Clinton. The best response to that kind of thinking comes from another, far superior, Christina Ricci movie "The Opposite of Sex": "Welcome to the planet Maturia!" one character tells another. "We have much to teach you." James Sanford
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