Released: May 25, 2007 (wide)Director: William Friedkin
Bug
*****
Ashley Judd starring in a horror movie directed by "Exorcist" wizard William Friedkin. What can possibly go wrong with that premise? More than you can possibly want to know. Not only is "Bug" the worst movie to grace our multiplex screens this year (yes, "Pathfinder" and "Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon" can move over), it is entirely possible it is the worst movie of the last five years (even worse than last year´s snore-inducing remake of "All the King´s Men").
Ashley Judd plays Agnes, a woman living in a motel and working in a seedy bar. Her ex-something (we never really know is it´s a boyfriend or husband) is getting out of jail and, according to Agnes, has been calling her and not saying a word. A co-worker, waitress RC (Lynn Collins), brings a quiet stranger over for drinks and he ends up staying the night on her couch. Later, he confides in her he escaped from a military hospital where the government was running tests on him. And just to spice up the drama quotient, Jerry (Harry Connick, Jr.) the ex, shows up, abusing and threatening both Agnes and Peter (Michael Shannon). Then, there are the bugs…
Okay, with that formality out of the way, "Bug" reminds me of last year´s "The Break-Up" (no, that "romantic comedy" was a thousand times better). If you remember that film, Universal promoted it as being funny and a, well, romantic comedy. The actual premise of the film couldn´t have been farther from the truth. Here, LionsGate has been heralding the "return" of Friedkin, giving the audience the impression this is a horror film. It´s not. It´s two people stuck in one room for 102 minutes, talking, yelling, having sex, talking some more, being paranoid, spinning wild stories…if you´ll notice, all these people do is talk.
That in itself isn´t a bad thing, but when it takes your film an eternity to lurch into the plot, you know you´re doing something wrong. At least the first half-I lost count of the seconds ticking off my life as the film rolled-of the film is devoted to establishing the relationships between the characters: Jerry and Agnes losing their son; Agnes and Peter "falling" for each other; Jerry becoming violent toward Agnes and Peter. And the second part takes place in an aluminum foil-plated room bathed in the blue fluorescent light of a half dozen bug zappers.
We´re willing to go along with the character development of the first half because, frankly, this if Friedkin. How long did it take for "The Exorcist" (the scariest film in history, at least in my book) to get to the promised scares? Maybe that´s why I´m so negative on "Bug." From a filmmaking perspective, it is beyond reproach. One of the hardest things in the industry is to confine yourself to a few enclosed sets with two or three actors. Friedkin does this. It´s not the directing which is the let down.
"Bug" isn´t as advertised. Yes, there are a couple gross out scenes, though they come in the latter stanzas of the film. By and large, though, it is incomprehensible, nonsensical garbage filled with conjecture and supposition. According to Peter, he was bitten by a bug following a night of sex with Agnes. So they tear apart the bed, searching for bugs so tiny, Agnes can´t see them. Until Peter convinces her they are there. From there, he spins a delusional yarn about government experiments and spouts entirely too much knowledge about the creatures.
We´re always waiting for the horror side of the film to kick in, but the script is hell bent on fitting into the black comedy genre. Which is fine, is the content was in the least bit humorous-or darkly funny, whichever you prefer. Whatever comedy was in the original play is lost here, as Agnes is a walking train wreck before our very eyes and Peter gives off a "don´t come near me" vibe. Friedkin has insisted this isn´t a horror film; I wish someone would have included that sound bite in the trailers.
If I can piece together the "logic" spouted near the end by the two: the government let him escape to see how the experiment would end; they also let Jerry out of jail to keep tabs on both Agnes and Peter; they ALSO forced through custody for RC´s lesbian partner´s kid in order to have RC introduce Peter and Agnes; they took Lloyd (Agnes and Jerry´s son) to have something to blackmail her with…oh hell, forget it. This theory is shouted at the top of Judd´s lungs in what mercifully passes for the climax. If you can keep track of everything the government allegedly does in this film, more power to you. Suffice to say Peter is a drone, he finds Agnes his queen and they´re supposed to create a swarm of wonderful little bugs. Why? How the hell should I know? The script doesn´t even know.
I never thought I´d say this, but it is entirely in the realm of possibility Ashley Judd will be recognized with some sort of acting nomination in this award season. She is the only thing that remotely keeps "Bug" afloat. The actress has become more than the stock tough female character we saw in her various detective/murder films ("Double Jeopardy" and "Eye of the Beholder"): she lets herself inhabit Agnes completely. We can see it in her eyes through the entire film, withered and tired, afraid and independent. And really only Judd could pull off the laughably awful finale, spitting gas out of her mouth and proclaiming who she has turned into.
The worst part of this entire exercise is we´re never even sure what the hell is going on. Not once does anyone with any credibility come onto the screen and tell the truth. A government "doctor" does show up late in the film, though his assertions carry the weight of a gnat. Do we believe he really is a doc and exists or is he a figment of both Agnes and Peter´s imaginations? Is it a government conspiracy or do the bugs actually exist? The most definite proof we can hope to see is to look through Peter´s microscope at blood samples. To keep us off balance, we never do see what´s inside the samples, only shots of what could be on the slides.
"Bug" is a horrible mess of a movie that neither delivers on its director´s pedigree nor on the trailers. For those reasons and a whole host more already outlined, it rates a 3 on the scale of 1 to 10. The film is only marginally redeemed by Ashley Judd. Avoid at all costs.
(spout.com)
Regardless of what issue was at the center of the coup, the central theme of this film is freedom. Freedom to be who you are in whatever flavor you decide to be; freedom to do as you want without answering to anybody; freedom from fear and tyranny. And, once the production reaches it´s halfway mark, those themes become obvious. It´s the set up to the story which tends to grind on with no real aim in mind.
Sara is stuck in a conservative household where her mother rules with an iron fist. She lies to go out to a bar, the Calentito, to meet her boyfriend for, as her mother terms the act, "it." When she finds him in the arms (and pants) of another girl, Sara finds herself in the bed of a lesbian rocker, Carmen. Though she is straight, Sara is enchanted by the rock band The Suix and becomes their third member. On the night of their major record gig, the coup takes place, throwing everything the family of transsexuals, bisexuals, homosexuals and other malcontents holds dear into the path of a speeding train.
"El Calentito" nearly hits the audience over their collective head making its point about the value of freedom and the fear associated with taking it away. Even in the haven for this group of characters-the Calentito-the threat of that freedom being taken away is omnipresent during the coup. The most fascinating aspect of the film isn´t that it combines a real life event with fictional people to great effect; it´s how many different types of freedom are expressed in a hair under 90 minutes.
Of course, there is sexual freedom and gender identity freedom. There´s personal travel freedom and the freedom to do what you want despite the people who might tell you not to. There´s also the freedom to choose the way you relate to another person. The people in favor of the coup, like the old couple who live above the bar, even take their freedom of speech for granted as they first harass transsexual owner Antonia and then threaten the patrons with a loaded gun. One of the new rules broadcast over the airwaves by Tejero and given prominence in the film is where citizens can go and who they can go with. Groups must be limited to four people; no more than two can walk on the street together; and so on.
Compare his dictums with Sara´s mother, who bellows at the top of her lungs for the kids to join the family for dinner or demands Sara´s younger sister give up her passion for football (soccer in America) because girls don´t like the sport. As we see from the opening moments of the film, she is the dictator in the house, while the father sits idly by, presumably in order to keep from fighting with his wife. Taken deeper, she is a stand-in for Tejero, while the seemingly deposed king of Spain resembles Sara´s father. Only when they´ve both had enough does either of them stand up and demand to be counted.
"El Calentito" is a slow build in that we´re allowed to know the participants and the world they live in before the drama begins. Yes, we are thrown into the restrictive yet free household Sara lives in with an opening sequence which talks about blow jobs while showing Mom at her demanding worst. It certainly sets the stage for the film, but it just feels like it´s biding time until story structure warrants the coup to be introduced. In the meantime, though, the relationship between punk rocker Leo, lesbian Carmen and Sara is allowed to grow and mature from a need-Sara takes over for a former band member who has left-into a want-especially considering what Sara gives up to join the band fulltime for the gig.
Ah, yes, the gig. The event the entire film revolves around…except, of course, the coup. In order to secure their recording contract, the girls agree to play a live set in front of the music company exec. Easy, right? Furthering the freedom theme, Leo and Carmen clash over which songs to sing: one says they need to perform only "safe" music while the other wants to be herself. For Spain of 1981, this is a fascinating conversation if only because they never make the connection between their fight and the coup.
Every character and subplot furthers the central idea of freedom, which isn´t something many films do in our culture. Antonia, formerly Antonio, is berated constantly by neighbors telling her what a freak she is. Her own son, who has called her "Dad" for years, finally breaks free of societal norms.
Only two problems rear their heads in the film. The first, and biggest, is the lack of background material on the coup. Sure, the script does hit us over the head with the freedom theme every chance it gets and we should be able to draw the parallels instantly. However, for foreign audiences who weren´t alive in 1981 and don´t know about Tejero or Franco, a verbal reference to how the country used to be would have been helpful. Still, it is enough to know freedoms are being taken away from the people and some of them were scared.
The other problem, as already stated, is the coup doesn´t happen until halfway through the production. By the time the first radio reports come in, the audience is on the brink of not caring about the situation anymore. Knowing these people face the prospect of their lives being turned upside down and becoming not just societal outcasts, but also illegals in their own country, is a terrifying thought. On the flip side, the audience wouldn´t be emotionally invested in Sara, Leo, Antonia or anyone else. And that emotional investment is crucial to experience the fear running through every trip to the bar door on the night of the coup. We constantly expect the door to open, obstructed by a wall, and secret police of some kind to barrel in.
Distilled down to its barest threads, "El Calentito" is about rebellion, some of which is successful and some that isn´t. Sara´s journey as a girl yearning to do what she feels she needs to do parallels Spain´s lurching into democracy. Both are fraught with peril and imminent disaster, yet the primary players carry on, doing what they feel they need to do.
VIDEO: This is a gorgeous transfer, hands down one of the best things to come out of TLA Releasing. The only drawback is the lack of anamorphic enhancement. Presented in a 1.85:1 letterbox widescreen format, "El Calentito" jumps off the screen, combining dank blackish-greens of the bar with attention grabbing hues of red, yellow and green. This turns out to be one of the cleanest transfers out there, especially considering the lineage of the production. Whether a by-product of the look of the film or my own subconscious, I felt as though I inhabited this version of Madrid as much as Leo, Carmen and Sara do.
AUDIO: There is just as much to brag about with the audio presentation on the disc. Only a 2.0 Spanish track is available, yet it never sounds like "just" stereo. It´s full and alive, bringing the bar experience home for the viewer. More than that, though, it´s clean. No hissing or auditory artifacts muddy up what we´re hearing, despite not understanding it. As expected, there is an English subtitle track-which doesn´t have to be manually selected, nor can it be turned off-with only one problem: near the end of the film, a brief conversation between Sara and her little sister has a line appear and disappear on screen in the blink of an eye. Judging by the onscreen action, we know what was said; still, this is a minor goof in the subtitles.
EXTRAS: I´d have liked to see as much thought and care go into the extras as went into the video and audio, but as they say, you can´t have everything. There is a Photo Gallery consisting of a dozen or so photos with a manual advance option. An interesting note here: logo for the film (a ticket stub with the name "El Calentito" on it) obscures the photos on every single page. It resides on the lower right hand corner for some unknown reason.
Next up is a music video for one of the bands songs, which plays more like an MTV promotional video than a video for any real band. The music is interspersed with short clips from the movie and run for a shade under four minutes. A special bonus: the lyrics are subtitled.
Last up are a collection of trailers. This film receives its original trailer, complete with subtitles; other TLA releases "Another Gay Movie" and "20 Centimeters" appear as well as the upcoming theatrical release "Boy Culture."
PARTING THOUGHTS:Our dancing sucksOur singing´s even worseOur dancing sucksAnd we can´t stay in tuneAnd we can´t even speakBut we just don´t care
Sample lyrics from The Siux demonstrate in six lines what I´ve tried to convey in two pages: the rebellious nature of the underground culture and the fear instilled in them when freedom is taken away, even for a little while. Filled with soul bearing performances as well as a timely message, "El Calentito" isn´t the pinnacle of film making, but it comes damn close.