The Unbelievable Truth

source: The Unbelievable Truth

I didn't know anything about this film before finding it listed in the book of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, it was rated rather average by critics, but I was hoping it would deserve the book placing, from director Hal Hartley (Trust). Basically Josh Hutton (Robert Burke) has been released from prison, having served time for murder, and he returns to his home town in Long Island, where no-one is sure about the details of his crime, whether the rumours are exaggerated, but they are certainly wary of him. Audry Hugo (Waitress actress and director Adrienne Shelly) lives in the town and already has a boyfriend in high school, but she soon meets Josh, dumps her boyfriend, and starts seeing him as her new mystery man, ignoring the tale tales of his manslaughter, he also finds himself a job as a mechanic working for Audry's father Vic (Chris Cooke). The relationship between them is anything but normal, not just because of Josh's crime being the talk of the town, but because Audry is a successful and sought after fashion model, and also she has high paranoia about big issues, such as the nuclear war and a forthcoming apocalypse, and in the end it is her modelling and travelling to New York that will ultimately break them up. Also starring Julia McNeal as Pearl, Katherine Mayfield as Liz Hugo, Gary Sauer as Emmet, Mark Bailey as Mike, David Healy as Todd Whitbread, Matt Malloy as Otis and Edie Falco as Jane - The Waitress. Burke is pretty good being mysterious, Shelly is interesting as the dissatisfied and odd girl, and together their on screen relationship plays out oddly but is part of what keeps you watching, I didn't find myself laughing all that much, I think it was the eccentric characters and peculiar conversations that kept me going until the end, an alright comedy drama. Worth watching!

Fraught with over obvious symbolism, Hartley's early feature is nonetheless a joy to watch. Hal here shows us his uncanny ability to cast his characters perfectly came early in his career. Adrienne Shelley is a near perfect foil to herself, equal parts annoying teen burgeoning in her sexuality (though using sex for several years); obsessed with doom and inspired by idealism gone wrong she is deceptively – and simultaneously – complex and simple. Her Audrey inspires so many levels of symbolism it is almost embarrassingly rich (e.g., her modeling career beginning with photos of her foot – culminating her doing * (but unseen) work; Manhattan move; Europe trip; her stealing, then sleeping with the mechanics wrench, etc.) As Josh, Robert Burke gives an absolutely masterful performance. A reformed prisoner/penitent he returns to his home town to face down past demons, accept his lot and begin a new life. Dressed in black, and repeatedly mistaken for a priest, he corrects everyone ("I'm a mechanic"), yet the symbolism is rich: he abstains from alcohol, he practices celibacy (is, in fact a virgin), and seemingly has taken on vows of poverty, and humility as well. The humility seems hardest to swallow seeming, at times, almost false, a pretense. Yet, as we learn more of Josh we see genuineness in his modesty, that his humility is indeed earnest and believable. What seems ironic is the character is fairly forthright in his simplicity, yet so richly drawn it becomes the viewer who wants to make him out as more than what he actually is. A fascinatingly written character, perfectly played. The scene between Josh and Jane (a wonderful, young Edie Falco . . . "You need a woman not a girl") is hilarious . . . real. But Hartley can't leave it as such and his trick, having the actors repeat the dialogue over-and-over becomes frustratingly "arty" and annoying . . . until again it becomes hilarious. What a terrific sense of bizarre reality this lends the film (like kids in a perpetual "am not"/"are too" argument). Hartley's weaves all of a small neighborhood's idiosyncrasies into a tapestry of seeming stereotypes but which delves far beneath the surface, the catalyst being that everyone believes they know what the "unbelievable truth" of the title is, yet no two people can agree (including our hero) on what exactly that truth is. A wonderful little movie with some big ideas.

This is a great movie! When I went to see it in 1990, I had no idea what it was about. I had a pass for a free screening. What luck that was--I have not been the same since. I love deadpan comedies, and this one is the best I've seen--it paved the way for Welcome to the Dollhouse and Bottle Rocket in 1996, and director Hal Hartley has become a well-known figure in the art house scene (too bad he has never been able to duplicate the success of his first movie). Robert John Burke plays the ex con mechanic, mistaken as a man of the cloth by several characters. Adrienne Shelley (where is she now?) plays the depressed teenager who falls in love with him, despite his mysterious past (did he really kill her best friend's sister?) Shelley appeared in Hartley's second film, Trust, and then made a low budget teen comedy (can't think of the title). Burke went on to replace Peter Weller as RoboCop and star in "Thinner." What a waste of two great talents! This movie has it all--romance, comedy, a quirky soundtrack, George Washington obsession, fun with crescent wrenches, and just a bit of drama. "Listen......bombs." See it!

"The world's not going to end when so many people are making so much money!" says a single-minded, suburban blue-collar father to his nihilistic, fashion-model daughter, who would rather contemplate Armageddon than pursue a higher education. The emotional toll of such misplaced priorities is stylishly satirized in director Hal Hartley's debut feature, a small town mock-Gothic parody of skewed personal relationships in the money-hungry 1980s. The setting is ostensibly somewhere on Long Island, but from Hartley's perspective it all takes place in a slightly off-kilter universe, tracing the ripple effect caused by the return home of a handsome, taciturn ex-convict (and mass murderer?) who admits to no ambitions other than the Tao of auto mechanics, the discipline of celibacy, and a profound interest in the life of George Washington. It all adds up to nothing more than a deadpan shaggy dog joke, never going anywhere in particular but finally arriving at just the right destination, with help from some crisscrossing, crazy-yet-formal dialogue reminiscent at times of a Preston Sturges script adapted by Jim Jarmusch.

I first saw this movie when I was 22 and I thought it was fantastic. I have seen it several times since then and each time I enjoy it but I don't have the enthusiasm that I once had. That might be, because every Hal Hartley movie I have seen since (three others) is exactly the same in dialogue, acting and direction. But enough on the negative. The positive - the cast: Robert Burke, Adrienne Shelley and the rest do a great job. I really enjoyed the dialogue, there doesn't seem to be a wasted word and all of the push fighting. How come Seagal doesn't try that? So, in summary, this is the best Hartley film so far.

What we have here is an indie romantic comedy, adorably done. Adrienne Shelly, who is petite and cute and pale as winter snow, stars as Audrey Hugo, a mechanic's daughter who has been accepted at Harvard (or so she says) but has no intention of going. She is obsessed with what she sees as the inevitability of nuclear war and attendant horrors, which she reads about aloud to herself and anyone who will listen. It is 1988 and this is Long Island, New York, although it looks a lot like Jersey to me. Certainly this is not the high rent district of Long Island. Her boyfriend is shallow and doesn't listen to her. Her father thinks she ought to go to the local community college which he notes is a whole lot cheaper than Harvard. She is bored with her senior year at high school and usually cuts. Enter tall, handsome, dressed all in black Robert Burke as Josh Hutton just released from prison. People who meet him ask, "Are you a priest?" He answers, "I'm a mechanic." And indeed he is an especially wondrous one who, of course, goes to work for Audrey's father, Vic Hugo (Chris Cooke) and becomes invaluable. Although it seems that Josh killed a girl and then the girl's father some years ago, we of course know from the title and from Josh's obviously sterling character that the "unbelievable truth" must be otherwise. And of course so does Audrey who is immediately smitten with him. But Josh is apparently practicing something like celibacy ("Are you a priest?") and rebuffs Audrey's advances, thereby initiating a whole slew of romantic misunderstandings wittily tossed about by director Hal Hartley along with some spiffy Mamet-like dialogue. Now enter a photographer who makes Audrey into a fashion model, first her feet, but eventually the entire petite torso. Physically she moves to New York City, but her heart is still with Josh at her dad's auto repair shop. She even carries Josh's wrench in her handbag, with which she threatens the photo guy when he tries to get too close. What makes this film a delight in spite of all the obvious elements and the predictable complications is the original, independent and sparkling character of Audrey, the true blue integrity of Josh, some clever and funny dialogue, and a kind of warm puppy feel usually the signature property of a Nora Ephron film starring Meg Ryan. (Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

Long Island auteur Hal Hartley writes, directs, and co-produces his first feature film. His second, "Trust," has more polish and a better reputation, but "The Unbelievable Truth" has plenty to recommend it. Hartley came onto the scene as kind of a Generation X independent film voice, and while the acting quality in this feature debut is more uneven than in subsequent efforts, his almost surreal approach to dialogue, situations, and characterization is intact right out of the gate. The story is of a man who comes back to his hometown after years in prison, and the young girl he meets once he gets there. As in "Trust," Hartley uses coincidences to underline the intersecting lives and fates of his characters, and his characterization emphasizes the random way in which so many of us foolishly let our hearts lead us around rather than our heads...although ultimately the day belongs to those who are able to conquer this tendency. While Hartley forcefully instructs his actors to play their lines totally deadpan as much as possible, the situations and character reactions lead to lots of uproarious laughs that will not be evident to many viewers if they're expecting sitcom-type humor, and the way his plots twist is a joy. For the sophisticated movie fan, Hartley's films are extremely interesting and a terrific exercise in watching a true original at work.

Mind you, it's a wafer thin storyline. A heart-warming little story of an ex-convict returning to a city, and the infatuation of the local Lolita has for him, it touches you, ever so softly, from behind the facade of the boisterous small town existence and the foibles of the small group of townspeople who form the nucleus of the story. At the end of it, you're glad you sat down to watch it - it's a laid-back mind-soother, which leaves you with a warm feeling all over. What elevates the film by several rungs is, however, the superb performance of Robert Burke as the mercurial, unpredictable and enigmatic Joshua Hutton, who leaves you ambivalent about his real intentions till the very end, when all is revealed. Supporting him, ably, is the petite Adrienne Shelly, who may not be strictly pretty, but has an elfin charm - not really a little girl any more, but not yet a woman. They complement each other perfectly, and it is this chemistry that makes the film glow, and forms the perfect foil to the humdrum backdrop of everything else that is going on. It's rewarding, and relaxing, viewing - a perfect de-stresser, if there ever was one. If you can get hold of a copy, hold on, tight.

Spoilers herein. I stumbled upon `No Such Thing' and was dumbfounded at its abstract richnesses. So I sought out other Hal Hartley projects. This one has the highest IMDB rating, whatever that means. Rottentomatoes gives `Thing' a 100 and this a 31! I suppose that is because the distance from the story is not so obvious -- it just looks like bad acting and the story might seem to make sense if you are not paying attention. We have Audry, a perfect vision, interested in doom, reading and being photographed, newly sexual. We have the hapless man in black: not a preacher but a mechanic who has paid for an unadjusted memory. Everybody else is props, including the driver/bum/'entertainer' and the photographer They engage in a dance of representation. This is an early work to be sure, with none of the ineluctably sophisticated layering of `Thing,' but you can still see an American Godard, a young Jarmusch in what is really his first open film. Adrienne Shelly is not required to act here, that's the point -- she is a `model.' But she is quite lovely as she comes through the camera. I recommend this to students of film narrative as an introduction to folding over nothing with an ironic neofabulism. Paved the way for later Lynch. Added to our ability to handle vision abstraction. Ted's evaluation: 3 of 4 -- Worth watching.