FILM REVIEW: THE WE AND THE I

A scene from The We and the I.

Fame: bully for them, chilly for you

By Don Simpson

School is officially out for the summer as a bunch of high schoolers crowd onto a city bus. With no adult authority figures willing to keep the kids in line, the bus is quickly segregated into two distinct groups: the bullies and the bullied. Out-numbered and unwilling to take a stand against a gang of hood-rat brats, the adults opt to exit the bus — some more gracefully than others — until the bus driver is left with a bunch of unruly teens. The bus devolves into an urban The Lord of the Flies on wheels as the kids jockey for power by using mental and physical torture against each other. The meanest and the crudest claw their way to the top of the pile, leaving a trail of emotionally devastated victims in their wake, but rather than dissolving into a state of total anarchy, kids exit the bus at their respective stops and their diminishing numbers slowly alter the tone of the remaining group. What begins as a pack of feral wolves transforms into more civil pairings, initiating increasingly intimate conversations.

The We and the I is an interesting social experiment in which writer-director Michel Gondry casts a bunch of non-professional actors straight out of a Bronx high school and crams them into this mobile social boiling pot. In theory, Gondry just wants them to be themselves as he clinically observes the pack mentality of teenagers, then tests what happens when the numbers of the pack begins to dwindle and as the bus transports them farther from school and closer to home. In significant numbers, the bullies are invincible; they are both fearless and selfish. As individuals, however, they are totally different people. Some of them might even become nice, albeit still a bit self-centered. Of course there is no denying the presence of the video cameras and modest crew changes their reality. At the very least, these outside forces form a safety net to ensure that the seemingly immoral bullies won’t push things too far. Sure, there may not be any authority figure on screen, but there is no greater authority than the director behind the camera.

Regardless of their subtle personality adjustments, after suffering through their relentless bullying for so long, these characters can never become likable. These are bad people, constantly fighting, teasing and insulting each other; they wallow in this cesspool of hatred and anger, gossiping and gloating, bragging and bullying. The We and the Iseems to just support the theory that our world is going to hell in a hand basket if these morally-deprived youth of today are any reflection of our future. This is the type of film that makes me glad that I do not have any kids because I would not want to subject anyone to the mental torture presented throughout The We and the I. It is worth noting, however, that Gondry remains merely a fly on the wall; placing any moralizing or condescension into the hands of the critics and audience.

 

SXSW 2011: HESHER

Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in Hesher.

Kid snuff

By John Esther

Poor 13-year-old TJ (Devin Brochu). His mother (Monica Staggs) recently died in a car crash. His dad, Paul (Rainn Wilson), responds to the tragedy with futile numbness and a bully named Dustin (Brendan Hill) habitually harasses the boy at school. What is a grieving boy, who is also prone to accidents, to do? Enter Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a young man who lives in a van.

Hesher is hardly the ideal helper. He drinks, smokes and does whatever the hell he wants. A walking menace who stabs his food while eating, climbs up telephone poles in his underwear and blows up things, Hesher (a term meaning someone into heavy metal) moves into the house with TJ, Paul and grandma (Piper Laurie) and immediately becomes the man of the house, with guitar in hand.

Rather than provide proper guidance to TJ’s woes, Hesher in many ways intensifies them. He gets TJ into all sorts of trouble the youngster does not need. Or does he?

Directed by Spencer Susser and co-written by Susser and David Michôd, Hesher offers an unconventional way of dealing with grief. Whereas TJ and dad let the world beat them down, Hesher fights back. The reactions between Hesher on one side and dad and TJ on the other are extreme, yet the film supports the idea that fighting back , even if it calls for violence (more against property than people), is the way to go.

Performances by Gordon-Levitt, Laurie and Natalie Portman (playing a young woman beaten down by economic woes) are solid, while Brochu seems to have a sound acting career ahead of him. Wilson, a comedian and co-star of TV’s The Office, takes a chance with this dramatic role and it pays off. The writing is uneven but amusing enough to make the film worth a watch.

After waiting over a year since its screenign at Sundance 2010, Hesher is slated for release later this year.