Fraught with over obvious symbolism, Hartley's early feature is nonetheless a joy to watch. Hal here shows us his uncanny ability to cast his characters perfectly came early in his career.
Adrienne Shelley is a near perfect foil to herself, equal parts annoying teen burgeoning in her sexuality (though using sex for several years); obsessed with doom and inspired by idealism gone wrong she is deceptively – and simultaneously – complex and simple. Her Audrey inspires so many levels of symbolism it is almost embarrassingly rich (e.g., her modeling career beginning with photos of her foot – culminating her doing nude (but unseen) work; Manhattan move; Europe trip; her stealing, then sleeping with the mechanics wrench, etc.)
As Josh, Robert Burke gives an absolutely masterful performance. A reformed prisoner/penitent he returns to his home town to face down past demons, accept his lot and begin a new life. Dressed in black, and repeatedly mistaken for a priest, he corrects everyone ("I'm a mechanic"), yet the symbolism is rich: he abstains from alcohol, he practices celibacy (is, in fact a virgin), and seemingly has taken on vows of poverty, and humility as well. The humility seems hardest to swallow seeming, at times, almost false, a pretense. Yet, as we learn more of Josh we see genuineness in his modesty, that his humility is indeed earnest and believable. What seems ironic is the character is fairly forthright in his simplicity, yet so richly drawn it becomes the viewer who wants to make him out as more than what he actually is. A fascinatingly written character, perfectly played.
The scene between Josh and Jane (a wonderful, young Edie Falco . . . "You need a woman not a girl") is hilarious . . . real. But Hartley can't leave it as such and his trick, having the actors repeat the dialogue over-and-over becomes frustratingly "arty" and annoying . . . until again it becomes hilarious. What a terrific sense of bizarre reality this lends the film (like kids in a perpetual "am not"/"are too" argument).
Hartley's weaves all of a small neighborhood's idiosyncrasies into a tapestry of seeming stereotypes but which delves far beneath the surface, the catalyst being that everyone believes they know what the "unbelievable truth" of the title is, yet no two people can agree (including our hero) on what exactly that truth is. A wonderful little movie with some big ideas.
罗伯特·德尼罗,塞巴斯蒂安·马尼斯科,莱丝莉·比伯,金·凯特罗尔,大卫·拉斯彻,安德雷斯·霍尔姆,布瑞特·迪尔,阿丹·詹姆斯·卡里略,劳拉·奥尔特,科尔比·辛恩,杰西·卡马乔,安德烈埃·加内特,安娜·纳瓦罗,克里斯·海斯,卡拉·克里斯蒂娜·孔特雷拉斯,迈克尔·斯图尔特,黛博拉·塔克,乔纳森·凡·奈斯,格里芬·胡德
刘思维,史元庭,邢瀚,任学海,刘秦杉,张大宝,王旭东,赵梓冲,刘春霞
Alexandre Bacon,Nancy Bernier,Jeff Boudreault,Wyatt Bowen,Benoît Brière,马克·卡马乔
埃娃·马特斯,Angela Schmid,玛吉特·卡斯滕森
Enya Baroux,Florent Dorin,Raphaël Descraques,Slimane-Baptiste Berhoun,阿尔诺·杜克雷,阿萨·西拉,Lénie Chérino,Mathieu Poggi
黎耀祥,陆剑明,魏骏杰,滕丽名,黄一山