Dir.
Jean-Baptiste Andrea, UK, 2006, 86 mins
Cast: Simon
Pegg, David
Schwimmer, Alice
Eve, Natascha McElhone
Review by Matthew Rodgers
Building on the moderate success of his
forgettable indie horror Dead End in 2003, director Jean-Baptiste
Andrea assembles an impressive cast in order to tread familiar
ground with this Fargo-lite tale of conmen, crooks, and cops
in small-town America.
Charlie (Schwimmer) is stuck in a rut as a struggling writer
counting down the days to his next rejection letter ,while
his understanding wife Penelope (McElhone) is the town sheriff.
Can you see where this is heading? Together they are doing
what they can to maintain that fading target of sanctity
that used to be called 'the American Dream'. Salvation/disaster
arrives in the form of colleague and aspiring swindler Gus
(Spaced and Shaun of the Dead legend Pegg) who concocts a
progressively unravelling plan that involves kidnapping a
priest, snuff movies, and an axe in the head. Sound simple?
Big Nothing has a lot to suggest that
it won’t live
up to that title. The ensemble cast are all terrific. Schwimmer
continues to distance himself from his Friends alter-ego
with roles in Curb Your Enthusiasm and Band of Brothers and
an edgy character in Charlie, whose decisions are manifested
through desperation. The audience can empathise with him
throughout.
The same cannot be said for the fantastic Pegg's character,
a loose cannon of hair-brained ideas and who is the complete
antithesis of Shaun's controlled zombie-evading hero though
all the comedy is intact and an impressive American accent
to boot. Watching the two, and their convincing on-screen
chemistry as the situation gets worse, is the highlight of
the film.
To maintain interest levels as the plot tedium kicks in
director Andrea doesn't stick to a simple point-and-shoot
style of film-making. He infuses interesting edits, and even
an animated segment, though they have been done better in
other movies (see Tarantino's back catalogue), and they stand-out
here as he attempts to elevate the film above it's simple
premise.
Said premise is Big Nothing's major
handicap and the over familiarity of films that have attempted
to replicate Fargo's success in the past year – The Ice Harvest, The Big
White – give proceedings a very unoriginal feel. Without
the actors on display here it would be consigned to the dustier
shelves of your local rental store.
Originality issues to one side – and when isn't that
an issue in a film nowadays? – Big Nothing's stand
out moments are a scene-stealing cameo from Mimi Rogers as
the priest's wife and Charlie's first (and last) day of work
at the fleapit call centre where he learns the ropes from
Gus. However, there are too few of these moments to make
it a multiplex recommendation and it’s safe to assume
that Big Nothing will make a bigger impact on the small screen.
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