This movie was a strange experience. I had never seen a filmed monologue and wasn't sure what to expect when, save for the B & W anecdotal interludes, this crazy man kept engaging his unhinged theatrics sequence after sequence. However, the more I thought of it and the closer I examined it, I noticed it wasn't just a Monk-style head case pontificating about his wildly diverse experiences, but rather all that and more. It was a decidedly non-standard exercise in artistry and aesthetic gymnastics chronicling the larger-than-life, manic-depressive, keenly erudite observances of a complicated, cultured life and a haywire, pinball-machine mind.
Eminently enjoyable and not a little bizarre, this unplugged documentary probes the conceivable limits of hysteria and nueroses to the event horizon, the core point being that an eye condition drove this man, Spalding Gray, through several countries over the course of many months along thousands of miles with a dollar for every step of the way , all in a remarkably fever-pitch case of avoiding surgery at all costs. The ultimate last thing in the world he wanted was someone probing around in his eyeball, especially after several less-than-encouraging horror stories he'd heard from family and friends.
Touted as the "high priest of high anxiety," Spalding Gray is as unapologetic about his approach and delivery of as he is candid about the panoramic spectrum of his uncommon experiences, quirky choices and the almost mythic magnitude of the odyssey avoiding the scalpel had propelled him to commit himself to.
Spalding Gray (R.I.P. 2004) was an asset to the performing world, a capital writer and a uniquely expressive sort. If you get the chance, see this, buy it, see it again and then see where it leaves you. If you so choose, contact me either through my email at thehonestpoet@aol.com or through my website http://bloodgutsandgore.com and let me know what you thought. Over and out...:)