Theory Of The Leisure Class
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C
The
members of a small town and their dysfunctional problems get challenged by a
series of child killings in Gabriel Niccolo Bologna’s Theory Of The Leisure Class (1998), which also happens to bring
Tuesday Knight and Brad Renfro back together a year after the underrated Telling Lies In America (reviewed
elsewhere on this site) the year before.
There are also other murders.
The Amber
Benson/Gabriel Niccolo Bologna screenplay has potential and it is obvious some
very talented actors felt the same way.
Unfortunately, everytime it looks like it will get better and pick up,
pretentiousness and inexperience foil the film repeatedly. Instead of getting an independent surprise, we
get a film that is not thought out as thoroughly as it should be and lands up
being more of a good B-movie at best.
That’s a shame, because it is hard for any independent film to get such
a cast together. Michael Massee and
Christopher McDonald also star.
The
“white trash” angle is played up to a point of being semi-racist and the
subject matter so ugly, that it never turns even unintentionally funny. Renfro, not on screen enough to begin with,
is not here enough. He is often
unrecognizable, and is the highlight of the film. The “trash” angle also makes trash of the
supposed mystery plotline, which is ultimately pointless. The actors cannot make us care enough about
the characters, though it is not their fault.
The very loose uses of sexuality, mental health, actual racism, and even
rape are also very problematic. The
criticism of consumerism is a mess and laughable, then outright exploitive for
all the wrong reasons in the prologue and epilogue. This really is like one of those train wrecks
you cannot stop watching.
The full
screen image is above-average at best, having its share of softness. The color is somewhat consistent, but
cinematographer Chris Tufty manages to keep a slight darkness going throughout
that makes the later events in the film all the more eerie. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo surprisingly
offers no Pro Logic-type surround information, while the music is basic and
forgettable. Extras include an odd Music
Video, trailer, and commentary by the director that is sometimes embarrassing
and offers him saying things that 1) he may regret later and 2) makes me wonder
if he knows what he is talking about.
The
murders land up not mattering, which is remarkable considering children are
brutally killed, but our auteur is too busy making “the big statement” to
care. This must have looked better on
paper, because the many failures of this film ultimately disprove any theories our great artist may have about
life. Theory Of The Leisure Class quickly disproves itself. Class dismissed!
- Nicholas Sheffo
