The Scribbler: Do-It-Yourself Shock Treatment

Known as “Jumper’s Tower” to residents, Juniper Tower is the Arkham of mental health halfway houses. If you move in, you are unlikely to get much better or live much longer. However, Suki has an advantage over her new neighbors. One of her multiple personalities happens to be uncannily resourceful in John Suits’ The Scribbler (trailer here), which opens this Friday in select markets.

Considering Suki is undergoing radical therapy to “burn off” her excess personalities, she would presumably be an unlikely candidate for out-patient treatment. Nevertheless, she has been issued a portable burn unit and a room in the friendly tower. Upon arrival, she is met by the grisly spectacle of jumper. It will not be the last one.

Juniper is entirely populated by female patients, except for Hogan, who takes pride and pleasure in being “the rooster in the hen house.” One of Suki’s multiples had a thing for him when they were formally institutionalized together, so they naturally pick up where they left off. Frankly, he is somewhat saddened by her burn-off regimen, lamenting some of her multiples were his friends. Nevertheless, the treatment seems to work, even though it causes temporary blackouts and states of altered perception. Whenever Suki comes to, it seems like another resident has committed suicide and the so-called Scribbler persona has been busy modifying her décor and the burn unit.

Adapted by Dan Schaffer from his graphic novel, The Scribbler incorporates elements from several genres (science fiction, horror, dark fantasy) and generates some clever disbelief-suspending psychological double-talk. Until the third act collapses into a maelstrom of mumbo jumbo, it is a surprisingly effective noir psycho-thriller.

Arguably, the best thing Suits has going for him is the massively creepy Juniper Tower. Production designer Kathrin Eder and art director Melisa Jusufi truly make this film come together, while cinematography Mark Putnam makes it all look suitably ominous, in the tradition of its source material and Grant Morrison’s Arkham Asylum graphic novel.

The cast is generally pretty good as well, particularly Katie Cassidy and Garret Dillahunt as Suki and Hogan, respectively. Their screen chemistry is appropriately weird, but undeniably charged-up. Gina Gershon, Ashlynn Yennie, and Michelle Trachtenberg all chew the scenery with glee as various eccentrically macabre residents of the Tower, but Eliza Dushku and Michael Imperioli seem visibly confused to be playing their scenes as the cops interrogating Suki within the film’s framing device. Fans of Sasha Grey should also take note, her character quickly disappears after her entrance (its almost as much of a tease as her prominently-billed cameo in The Girl from the Naked Eye).

Granted, the ending makes little sense, but that is almost always the case in genre cinema. What is more important is how smart and stylishly sinister the film is as it works its way there. Recommended with surprising enthusiasm, The Scribbler opens this Friday (9/19) in limited release.

Presented by Sasha Grey: Modus Operandi

Neither producer nor star, Sasha Grey is “presenting” Frankie Latina’s new retro 1970’s exploitation midnight movie. So, after who knows how many adult videos and a starring role in Soderbergh’s digital quickie The Girlfriend Experience, Grey is evidently the new Oprah. Hey, that’s fine, I’m just checking. However, she picked an odd first film to lend her imprimatur to with Latina’s Modus Operandi (trailer here), which kicks off a week of midnight screenings this Friday at the IFC Center.

Presented by Grey and co-starring Danny “Machete” Trejo, Mark “American Movie” Borchardt, and Mark “Animal House’s Neidermeyer” Metcalf, Operandi reviews ought to pretty much write themselves. Of course, like fellow Wisconsin indie filmmaker Borchardt’s Coven, Latina’s story is largely incomprehensible. Perhaps it is the “additional material” contributed by Borchardt.

The McGuffin, such as it is, involves two briefcases filled with compromising material lost by front-running presidential candidate Squire Parks. To recover them, the CIA director, naturally played by the always seriously bad Trejo, recruits Stanley Cashay, a once lethal assassin who spiraled into a debilitating depression after his wife’s murder. Once he pulls himself together, he will have to contend with agency turncoat Dallas Deacon. As he pursues his quarry, people get killed and women walk around naked.

There are a lot of video gags strewn throughout Operandi, including a phony vintage commercial for 70’s Hindi Policewoman-esque TV show, which begs the question will we get an Ayesha Ayesha movie next? Do not even ask what Metcalf’s character “Copper Gore” has to do with anything. A member of the Wisconsin mafia, one suspects he just showed up to support his more eccentric colleagues. As Deacon, Borchardt is pretty much the same as he ever was, but Randy Russell might actually be seen doing a spot of acting as our anti-hero Cashay. Again, Trejo brings serious cult cred to Operandi that it really does not deserve.

In fact, anyone expecting Machete like attitude in Operandi might be a bit disappointed. Sure there is plenty of cartoon violence and a fair amount of nudity, but with its grainy look, surreal imagery, and surprisingly slow pace, Operandi often feels more closely akin to experimental film than a tongue-in-cheek gore fest. As a result, it is hard to know what to make of it, but it is surely not for a mass audience.

Ultimately, Operandi is a strange exercise in exploitation love that should have been much funnier, or at least more energetic. Fans of Grey and Trejo (you know who you are) probably will not let that deter them from the midnight Friday (9/10) screening, which the “presenter” and co-star will attend in the flesh, so to speak. In every way an odd film, Operandi runs September 10-16 at the IFC Center.

Soderbergh’s GFE

Steven Soderbergh is known for making two distinctly different kinds of films: big Hollywood pictures with the word “Ocean’s” in the title, and small digital video independents. Quickly filmed and largely unscripted, The Girlfriend Experience (trailer here), is definitely the latter. Following its recent premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, GFE starts its regular theatrical run this Friday in select cities.

In addition to his improvisational methods, Soderbergh added further wildcards into GFE’s mix by casting a number of actors in their first mainstream roles, including adult film star Sasha Grey, as Chelsea, a high-class Manhattan escort. Chelsea has dramatically grown her business by offering her clients more intimate options which simulate an actual relationship, as well as the standard “services.” Of course, you still have to pay to play. While it certainly happens off-screen, there are no sex scenes as such in GFE, as part of a conscious strategy by Soderbergh to distinguish Chelsea from less rarified service providers.

Surprisingly, Chelsea has legitimate girlfriend experience herself. In fact, she is in a relatively committed relationship with Chris, a personal trainer well-aware of her line of work. Chris is a relentless self-improver, the kind of guy who probably has a drawer full of self-help tapes. He definitely has a Willie Loman streak, constantly selling his services as a trainer and a line of sports wear to prospective clients, competing health clubs, and sporting good stores. It would be an oversimplification to suggest he sells himself as much as Chelsea, but there is no question she makes sales, whereas he does not.

As Chris, neophyte actor and real-life trainer Chris Santos makes an impressive debut. It is a brave performance, exposing the insecurities and frustrations of a character that audiences will assume to be autobiographical, given the similarities of their backgrounds. Grey by contrast, plays a character who by necessity maintains a nearly impassable emotional barrier between herself and the rest of the world. Her Chelsea is essentially a blank slate on which Chris and her clients project their desires.

GFE is a flawed but interesting film. Soderbergh and cinematographer Peter Andrews’s High Def give the film a rich, sophisticated look, but aside from Santos’s performance, it is a rather cold-blooded, passionless affair. Though some scenes ring uncomfortably true, others seem to meander, which is completely understandable given its improvisational nature. Despite the absence of explicit scenes, it remains a voyeuristic film, preoccupied with the material trappings of luxury. While the character development is often compelling, the film ultimately ends on a rather hollow, anti-climatic note.

Granted, GFE can be talky and uneven, but the sharp provocative dramatic situations are never dull to watch. In truth, it has its merits, including a riveting debut performance from Santos. (It even has a cool drum solo.) Soderbergh fans should find it more satisfying than most of his recent indie offerings. As for Grey fans, I won’t speculate. It opens tomorrow (5/22) in New York at the Sunshine and Beekman Theaters.