CIFF: Joint Body
By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 10, 2011 3:20PM
This is part of Chicagoist's coverage of the Chicago International Film Festival.
Nick (played by Mark Pellegrino) is paroled after seven years in prison and suddenly finds himself thrust back into an unfamiliar world. His wife has divorced him and gotten a restraining order, he isn't allowed to see his teenaged daughter, and all his old buddies are either gone or still in prison themselves. He checks into a motel, where he crosses paths with Michelle (played by Alicia Witt), a tough-as-nails stripper. After he gets a factory job and the two commence a tentative friendship, things seem to be looking up. But of course ...
Kudos to editor/writer/director Brian Jun, who eschews cliché in favor of well-rounded characters and atmospheric texture, much as he did in Steel City. Indeed, Joint Body plays like a followup of sorts to that meaty drama, displaying the same genuine sympathy for its blue collar milieu. A round of applause should also go to Pellegrino and Witt, who both contribute excellent performances. Witt is so thoroughly de-glamorized that it took us a few scenes to even recognize that this was the same actress who appeared on Cybill (let alone Twin Peaks). "I could have had your life. I just chose not to," she says at one point. Her Michelle is not exactly a victim or a manipulator, and her chemistry with Pellegrino, playing a man ready to atone, but who knows that everything is tacked against him, is electric.
So it's a shame that Jun doesn't find something more interesting for these characters to do. He seems stymied by the air of fatalism inherent in the story's foundation. The movie's low key tone, admirable at first, grows frustrating after it becomes clear that no one's going anywhere. And as hard as he tries to subvert our expectations, it isn't much of a surprise that when Nick's brother gives him a gun "for protection" nothing good will come of it. The ending does not include a big shootout (thankfully) but also doesn't satisfy.
Joint Body screens Wednesday, October 12 at 3:40 p.m., Friday, Oct. 14 at 6:30 p.m., and Saturday, Oct.. 15 at 9:15 p.m. Director Brian Jun and producers James Choi and Max Velez will be in attendance for both screenings.