So without further ado, I am going to review a light-hearted film that you should definitely check out if you are a film enthusiast and enjoy the comedy genre. The rest of this review will be written in courier, the standard screenwriting font.
Scotty Pelk (Melik Malkasian) is a film geek living in Portland, Oregon who works at a video store called Video Connections. None of the other employees like him too much due to his lack of a personality and the fact that all he talks about is movies. Of course, Scotty runs his own movie website, Scottysfilmpage.com which hasn't gained a single hit. Like the obsessive he is, Scotty checks his hit counter on a daily basis and is disappointed every time. When Scotty is fired from Video Connections for being an annoyance to customers, he looks around town at other video stores that he could work at with no success.
On the bus, Scotty sees a girl (Niko, played by Tyler Gannon) reading a book about David Cronenberg and tries to talk to her about film but is rejected. Scotty eventually takes a job at an auto parts warehouse where he tries to connect with his co-workers, of course by talking about movies.
On his way home, Scotty sees Niko again and they talk some more over coffee. She invites Scotty to the opening of her art gallery later that night. Scotty shows up and is surprised to see Niko and her ex-boyfriend who is stalking her. Niko kisses Scotty to make her ex jealous and so begins a nerd's fascination with a woman who showed attention.
The rest of the film deals with Scotty trying to fit into the "normal" world via Niko who tries to assimilate him. Melik Malkasian portrays Scotty as an annoying nerd with a certain naive charm to him that you have no problem laughing at him one minute and then wanting to punch him in the face repeatedly. Scotty is similar to a puppy that craps everywhere, annoying everyone because he just wants to be loved.
Now, as a film geek myself, I can identify with Scotty on many levels. I used to work at a video store, I have a film blog and film is my universal language. Just typing the word "Universal" makes me think of Jaws and the classic horror monsters. At the video store Scotty even uses a shrink wrap machine and blow dryer...man, that takes me back. Like Scotty, I am very opinionated about the films I like and do not like. When he is working at the video store, Scotty even smells the VHS boxes - something I unabashedly still do.
Scotty is disconnected from the real world and even admits that he likes movies because they take him away from reality and let him be other people. He is so disconnected that when Niko asks Scotty what kind of music he likes, he lists off film composers like Howard Shore and Bernard Hermann. Scotty uses the worlds, "brilliant" and "awesome" a lot when talking about films and tries to persuade a customer at the video store to rent wide screen titles because they preserve the director's intentions.
As for the film itself, Film Geek is a great indie comedy that is geared towards the film geek, him/herself. There are plenty of jokes that the average film geek would understand that would fly over the average movie goer's head, however there are also jokes that everyone will understand and enjoy. The comedy that works the best for the average person is seeing Scotty's ineptness and how he handles the real world.
Film Geek does have its small problems and it is in no way a perfect film, nor does it comes close. There are some wooden deliveries of dialogue and the background music that is supposed to sound like things people in their mid-twenties would listen to is not. All of that doesn't mean this is a bad film and simply put, Film Geek is fun! Being that it's an independent film, it doesn't have lavish production values or the best actors when it comes to supporting characters but it works. There is some good instrumental music (complete with ba-ba-ba's) that gives the film and Scotty a more innocent and playful tone. The camera angles are impressive as the educated viewer can tell that the director and cinematographer knew what they were doing. In fact, I saw a lot of setups that I would have done myself, while being surprised by others.
It's rough around the edges at times but the charm of Film Geek is in its lead, Scotty and how he handles the world around him.
All in all, Film Geek is something I enjoy watching every now and then to remind me that there are other people like myself in the world who are more disconnected from society than I am. Like every other great indie film I see, it gives me hope that one day I will be able to make a film that people enjoy even if it is on a shoestring budget.
3 1/2 VHS Tapes (Out of 5)
Check Out the Trailer Before Scotty Does:
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