Evan Glodell and Jessie Wiseman in Bellflower

3 Stars

Woodrow and Aiden, best pals in their 20s who left Wisconsin for California together without a plan, grew up on a steady childhood diet of "Mad Max." They liked the Mel Gibson bloodbath enough to rewatch a VHS copy dozens of times, while daydreams of surviving the apocalypse and someday driving a car emitting "huge flames to burn our enemies" danced in their heads.

Who says dreams must die when adulthood comes calling? In "Bellflower," a rewardingly twisted hybrid of low-fi mumblecore and stylized thriller, writer, director and co-star Evan Glodell imagines his own apocalypse survival, this one more emotional than literal. In between binge drinking and their sometime, sort-of and then suddenly intense relationships with their girlfriends, timid Woodrow (played by Glodell) and wild-man Aiden (Tyler Dawson) put their longtime "Mad Max" crush to the test, gathering parts and special-ordering materials for a genuine flamethrower as well as accessories for the car they call Medusa.

What keeps this small but vital picture humming is simple: It concerns more than just that car, or arrested-development "Mad Max" worship. One night at a local bar's cricket-eating contest (50 bucks to the winner), Woodrow goes up against the hellion called Milly (Jessie Wiseman), with whom Woodrow embarks on an impromptu road trip to Texas and back. This development throws Aiden. Up till now neither of the guys have quite figured out where a woman, let alone romance, let alone love, fits into their stall tactics otherwise known as "a life."

The tone is tricky in a good way: amusing enough to make the guys' schmucky behavior interesting, serious enough (though some of the more extreme violence is just for show) to give "Bellflower" some grounding. Glodell and cinematographer Joel Hodge shot the film with a modified digital camera containing vintage parts to lend the images a disorienting air of antiquity. It's like the world's coolest iPhone camera app writ large, and while it'd be misleading to make too much of this picture, it'd be a shame to make too little of it, either.

 

MPAA rating: R (for disturbing violence, some strong sexuality, nudity, pervasive language, and some drug use).

Running time: 1:45.

Cast: Evan Glodell (Woodrow); Jessie Wiseman (Milly); Tyler Dawson (Aiden); Rebekah Brandes (Courtney); Vincent Grashaw (Mike).

Credits: Written and directed by Evan Glodell; produced by Vincent Grashaw and Evan Glodell. An Oscilloscope Laboratories release.

Copyright © Tribune Media Services, Inc.

Bellflower Movie Review - Evan Glodell and Jessie Wiseman