Friday, 5/9/97 SCREENSCENE Reviews: "Twin Town" and
"Nowhere"
"Twin Town" Directed by Kevin Allen Starring Llyr Evans and Rhys
Ifans Oh, the film business in Wales is just brimming with
excitement these days. And why not? When’s the last time a Welsh
film had anyone but the Cardiff and Aberystwyth critics’ circles
watching intently with thumbs poised? If the movie in question,
"Twin Town," were any good, they might have had something to cheer
about. But alas, ’tis not. To say nothing of the movie’s complete
lack of coherence, theme or charm, it’s a crass, derivative and
humorless film that succeeds only in being completely devoid of
personality and soul. Preparing for its episodic idiocy requires no
more than a refresher course on time-honored comedy devices such as
urinating, farting, killing pets and half-witted bantering to coax
a laugh. There’s even that funny joke where the foreign waiter
insults his customers in another language with a warming chuckle.
Yeah, that one. "Twin Town," confusedly speaking, is about two
prankish brothers, Jeremy and Julian Lewis (not twins,
incidentally) who live in the murky town of Swansea, South Wales,
and like to steal cars, smoke pot from a laudable variety of
plastic containers and slouch on the couch of their trailer-home,
watching the television. In time, they manage to irritate a pair of
corrupt cops and Bryn Cartwright, a slithery but wealthy roofing
contractor, to the point of igniting a rather ruthless (and
pointless) feud. Property is destroyed, animals are harmed, hair is
ruffled. Oh, Swansea has never been so zany. The problem is that
"Twin Town" doesn’t let you care about any of these stick-figure
people for a minute. Throwing a handful of shallow eccentricities
into characters and dialogue is not enough to support a dark
comedy. Moreover, this isn’t even a proper twin movie. The brothers
inhabit a scant 20 or 30 minutes of the film. Which is fine,
because they spend the bulk of their onscreen time being so
heinously vulgar and unruly that you begin to sympathize with the
band of stooges that is trying to hurt them. Carry on lads, where
do I sign up? Even Disney comes up with better twins. These two
gloopy-looking miscreants deserve whatever they get because they’re
neither cute nor alluringly mischievous. They’re "Dumb and Dumber"
with accents. It says little for director Kevin Allen that the
Tweedle Dee-Tweedle Dum pair of this film shoulders absolutely no
momentum in the story. His accomplishments as an actor and
documentary filmmaker might lead one to expect a good movie, making
this even more of a disappointing debut. This film will no doubt be
advertised using the names of its two executive producers, Danny
Boyle and Andrew MacDonald, the director-producer team behind
"Shallow Grave" and "Trainspotting." Swallow not the bait. "Twin
Town" bears little resemblance to either film and sports none of
the energy, wit or stylishness. Grade: D By John Nein "Nowhere"
Directed by Gregg Araki Starring James Duval and Rachel True
Watching a Gregg Araki film usually means abandoning the safe
confines of conformity for his dark and violent take on the world.
With the disturbingly nihilistic "The Living End," "Totally Fucked
Up" and "Doom Generation" to his credit, it seemed destined that
"Nowhere" would follow suit. Instead, Araki approaches the last
installment of his teen-apocalypse trilogy with a mainstream touch
that effectively examines self-destructive teenage society. A cross
between an episode of "Beverly Hills 90210" and an acid trip,
"Nowhere" dives into the everyday lives of "typical" Los Angeles
teenagers. James Duval ("The Doom Generation") is Dark, the
audience’s guide through the perverse and chaotic concrete jungle
of the city. Dark stumbles through life disillusioned and
pessimistic about his future. His only solace comes from the warm
body of his girlfriend, played by Rachel True ("The Craft"), but
even that falls into jeopardy as she wanders about sowing her wild
oats. Stranded in an cruel world, Dark searches for his perfect
soul mate and finds newcomer Nathan Bexton waiting with open arms.
Though at first homosexuality seems to play a big part in the
movie, it is really only a possible answer to a question that Araki
poses in all his films: the search for true and total love. The
kids in his movies all lust for companions and look constantly for
that special someone, without success. Along their search, they all
encounter different obstacles that Araki believes stop a person
from attaining love. Be it drugs, violence or society itself, the
world continually steps in front of the path of love and usually
manifests as extremely explicit acts of sex or violence. With
"Nowhere," the level of perversity has been toned down, but Araki
hasn’t failed to deliver a funny and poignant look at the problems
plaguing today’s youth. Taking bits and pieces from television,
music and pop culture, Araki weaves a layered tale of doubt and
insecurity. His knack to attract the hippest Generation X actors
allows him the flexibility to cast the people he wants to create
authenticity. "Nowhere" is stocked with trademark Araki flair,
including nasty street slang and richly colorful scenes, but has
shed the in-your-face style of past films for a more relaxed,
subtle direction. The new maturity results in an intense and dark
drama that deftly illustrates the trouble with today’s youth. Trinh
Bui Grade: A- TOWN MEETING: (l.) Julian (Llyr Evans) and Jeremy
(Rhys Ifans) have a trivia contest in a bathtub in "Twin Town."
Related Links: Nowhere