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BRAINDRAINER
Written and Directed by Michael Legge
Director of Photography - Robert LeggeDr. Garland - Sydelle Pittas
Senator Vapid - Bob Eiland
The Amazing Jacques - Michael Legge
The Spiderwoman - Michelle LeibowitzNo one in the world of micro-cinema works harder at maintaining such a consistently high level of comedic standards than Michael Legge. His films are both low-brow absurdity and high-brow satire, and they work well no matter how viewers choose to enjoy them. Legge's wit is sharp and his humor cuts deep. Imagine a live-action version of THE SIMPSONS and you'll have a pretty good idea as what the goings-on are like in the Legge universe. He prefers to find the humor in everyday situations by surreally turning them on their ears rather seeking out the Least Common Vulgarity, the route so dominantly taken by the features found at the multiplexes.
BRAINDRAINER is Legge's take on the zombie sub-genre, and the results are uniquely bizarre. Instead of taking the lead from George Romero, like so many of today's low-budget filmmakers, Legge takes his left-of-center viewpoints and creates a world all his own. Politicians sit on fences debating which lies to tell in public. Reporters explode on-air over their career shortcomings. The French are the root of all evil. And an alien rock wants to rule the planet.
That's correct, a rock wants to rule the planet. Not any rock, but the title rock. BRAINDRAINER is the size of a fist, but has aspirations are big as...well...the world. He feeds off intelligence, planting itself in the cranium and replacing the host's brain - sort of. That last part we're not to sure about, it's never proven whether politicians actually had brains or not.
Legge himself is once again in front of the camera adding to his already impressive assortment of characters. Here he plays The Amazing Jacques, a not-so-amazing hypnotist who sees his chance to grab a piece of the pie through BRAINDRAINER. What amazes me most about Legge's acting ability is how naturally at home he appears as each character he creates. It's like he's played these parts for years and today is just another day at the office.
BRAINDRAINER is an older effort from Legge, whose more recent work includes the much-overlooked STUMPED, starring Debbie Rochon and Jasi Lanier. At this point in his career, Legge's footing is off and he doesn't feel so sure of himself in terms of coverage and editing. On the DVD for BRAINDRAINER, Legge mentions that this presentation is a revised cut of the movie. He's gone back in to tighten up some awkward scenes that he wasn't happy with originally. Not having seen the film's initial release, I can't compare the two.
Of the handful of work I've seen by Michael Legge, this is the most political. He turns his brush on governmental institutions and paints them as the bureaucratically stagnet models of ineffectiveness we know them to be. Whether Senators are taking debates to the school yard or Federal Agents are being duped via The Emperor's New Clothes, Legge always presents his material with a matter-of-factness that strengthens the satirical bite.
One of Legge's best assets as a filmmaker is that his bite lacks venom. His films are playful and silly in that Monty Python tradition. Vulgarity and cheap shots are left to those directors without a fully functional sense of humor. Legge is like the Robert Frost of low-budget cinema, always taking the comedic road less traveled. And that has made all the difference.