Joey Guerra
Entertainment Editor
Buffalo '66 plays like an independent film lover's dream come true.
The film, which opened Friday in Houston, is full of quirky, offbeat characters and even more off-kilter camera angles. It incorporates dream sequences, flashbacks and out-of-nowhere dance numbers, along with comically macabre scenes of violence and, perhaps most surprisingly, momentary displays of genuine heart.
The supporting cast of Buffalo '66 features indie regulars Mickey Rourke, Kevin Corrigan and Rosanna Arquette. And as one of the brightest jewels in its casting crown, the ever-maturing, incredibly talented Christina Ricci stars as its leading lady after acclaimed roles in last year's The Ice Storm and the current sexy scorcher The Opposite of Sex.
Best of all, though, the film was directed, co-written and shepherded to the big screen by Vincent Gallo, the reed-thin, raw-stare star of The Funeral, Palookaville and numerous Calvin Klein ads. He is also the film's central figure.
Buffalo '66 is exactly what you'd expect from a no-apologies actor like Gallo. It's raw, edgy, rough around the edges, and surprisingly sweet. As a director, Gallo has a keen sense of what he wants and how to make it work on screen. He makes some risky moves, but they all pay off handsomely.
As a screenwriter, Gallo shows equal promise. His story focuses on the events proceeding Billy Brown's release from prison after five years. Billy has become a harder, sadder man, but it doesn't all have to do with his time in jail. His life was a mess long before that.
The root of Billy's problems seems to stem from his family, who were unaware of his predicament. Billy made up a top-secret government job and a happy wife in letters to his mother Janet (Anjelica Huston) and father Jimmy (Ben Gazzara). Faced with his return home, Billy has to think fast on how to conjure up this perfect life.
In some of the film's funniest scenes, Billy bolts inside a dance studio looking for a men's room, calls his parents to notify them of his impending arrival and unexpectedly kidnaps Layla (Ricci), a bratty blond who seems surprisingly eager to help. Billy forces Layla to pretend to be his wife, and the two head home to Mom and Dad's.
What Gallo has created here is much more than an off-kilter kidnapping. It's also a lot deeper than a quirky boy-meets-girl romance. Buffalo '66 explores the intricacies and shameful delicacies of a tortured family, the effects it has had on a son and how an outsider, alone and isolated, envelopes the situation around herself.
Gallo's use of dialogue and angles make Buffalo '66 an indie film of the highest order, but don't let it turn you off. If anything, this film should be a welcome relief from the barrage of Earth-destroying comets and recycled action plots littering mainstream cinema.
Gallo is a marvel as Billy - crude, vulgar and endearingly pitiful all at the same time. He brings out all the facets of this difficult character, and it's an interesting process to watch.
As unexpected bride Layla, Ricci casts light on yet another side of her increasing acting range. Everything about Ricci's performance and appearance is perfection: the doe eyes, the bottle-blond hair, the lilting tone when she's talking to Billy's parents. She's downright irresistible, a bowling alley princess with a gleam in her eye.
Huston makes an unexpectedly humorous and neurotic turn as Billy's mentally questionable mother. With her hair piled up on her head and a shiny Buffalo sports jacket on her back, Janet is the picture of domestic dysfunction, and Huston plays it unflinchingly to the hilt.
Gazzara strikes a pitiable, suitably dour tone as Billy's worn-down father. Corrigan, who plays a very different character in the equally offbeat Henry Fool, displays impressive range as Goon, Billy's childhood friend who knows something is wrong even if his thought process is a little slow. Rourke, Arquette and Jan-Michael Vincent also make the most of small roles within Gallo's world.
Buffalo '66 is undoubtedly one of the most original pieces of work to hit the big screen this year, and Gallo's ability to extract sweetness from some of these difficult situations makes it all the more affecting. There is love and understanding buried deep within those faded walls, and Gallo's fresh approach makes the journey to the treasure consistently entertaining.
Rated
Not Rated
Running Time
110 min
Playing
Landmark River Oaks