A Hole in One (2004)

Richard Ledes' A Hole in One is a profoundly odd, intriguingly quirky little slice of Americana. The film is strangely mellow, thanks in part to its passive, numbly depressive heroine, Anna, played by Michelle Williams. Williams is an engaging and underappreciated performer, and Anna's off-putting lack of affect is somewhat ameliorated, in terms of maintaining audience sympathy, by the star's subtle appeal. Her graceful performance and excellent work from most of the supporting cast (particularly Tim Guinee, Bill Raymond, and Wendell Pierce), lend emotional grounding to the film, which occasionally borders on weirdness for its own sake. With its quirky, darkly satirical exposure of the dark underbelly of a seemingly wholesome American suburb, the film evokes Blue Velvet, so perhaps Meat Loaf Aday's egregiously over-the-top performance as the film's hot-tempered villain is some kind of misguided homage to Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth. Aday's Billy, the local gangster who holds Anna in some kind of unexplained sway, is the one off note in the film's otherwise remarkably consistent, creepily comic tone. Ledes' assurance, as both screenwriter and director, is justified by the film's pungent thematic concerns, as it examines a distinctly American penchant for quick fixes (in the film's example, for mental illness) that often cause more damage than the ailments they purport to cure. Perhaps Ledes tries to do too much, and, in part due to Aday's jarring performance, the film doesn't quite cohere. But from the opening titles, with their jangling ice-pick imagery, the film builds an appropriate sense of needling uneasiness that sporadically rises to the surface in horrific imagery. While Williams and Guinee provide an eleventh-hour romantic interest, Ledes' sardonic wit delivers a welcome jolt straight to the brain. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide