 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
DRIVE IN
Produced by Lee Friedlander, Jhano Ajemian, and Koko Polosajian
Written and Directed by Charles DeBus
Edited by Greg Huson
Director of Photography - John HallBilly - Brenton Earley
Wayne - Eric Jungmann
Jenny - Deshja Driggs
Steve - Rick Perkins
Council Woman Morrow - Alex GrantCharles DeBus' DRIVE IN is a movie that wants to have its heart in the right place. The problem is it doesn't know where its heart is. The movie sits on the fence arguing both sides of the age-old violence-in-the-media debate. Is it violent films and games that cause today's youth to go all Waco, or is the lack of parental involvement when it comes to teaching a child what is right and wrong?
Maybe director DeBus believes both sides have merit. I'm not really sure, and I don't really care. Neither will you after seeing DRIVE IN. Film is about passionate politics, not presidential politics. A good looking cast can only get a director so far, eventually he has to take a stand and choose a side. Without a cause to support, arguments ring hollow. They sound like Bill Clinton after the blue dress was brought to light.
One thing I can say in DeBus' favor, the guy has made one of the least PC movies I've seen, underground or otherwise. A gay man beats a retarded youth, Billy, to the point where Billy lashes out and goes on a killing spree at the local drive in. You see, Billy's house is located right next to that drive in, and on a good night Billy can catch all the horror triple bills. Locked in his room by his mother, a local politician, the only social interaction Billy knows is the death and dismemberment he sees through his window.
The Bulk of the film is spent following around the local high schoolers on their Friday night out. During the evening they'll try to score, make fun of contemporary dance tracks, and discuss statistics concerning the media and outbreaks of violence in today's adolescent.
Horror works best if it's grounded in reality. I can buy the bits about trying to score and finding no pleasure in Fat Boy Slim, but throwing out statistics? I can only suspend my disbelief so far before it decides to come back and bite me in the ass before laughing in my face.
The majority of the cast is interchangeable. They all look and act the same, pretty. Pretty in that I've-spent-20-smackers-at-the-beauty-sallon-and-now-you're-gonna-take-me-seriously kind of look. If that doesn't work for you, try picturing a high school gal who has just spent 2 hours doing her hair and make-up for a school mixer; non-formal of course.
Technically speaking, DRIVE IN is a sound film. The visuals and editing have a very cinematic richness, something most shot of video productions try hard to achieve but fail miserably in a sea of flames. But the best visuals in the world doesn't change the fact that without a good story, a good film can't be made. To tell a good story, a director must have a point of view.
At times the story relies to heavily on matching action with the events on the drive-in's screen. The biggest problem I have with film-within-a-film vehicles is that they rely too much on the material they are pulling from and not enough upon the merits of the writers imaginations. In scenarios like this, it works best to have the events on screen mirror the events the filmmaker is covering, and not the other way around. The irony is lost, and so is the homage.
Despite it's shortcomings, I liked DRIVE IN. I might have liked it more back in college during the many Saturday night beer and movie festivals that dominated my dorm. It's the kind of movie where a few suds make the little nit-picky things less noticable. At it's best, DRIVE IN is lightweight trash. At it's worst, DRIVE IN is wishy-washy politics. What's nice is you can find this at most video stores, you don't need to shell out that minimum wage you've worked so hard to amass.