Passenger Side
Joel Bissonette and Adam Scott in Passenger Side
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By Darren Estwick. |  |
Monday, 12, Oct 2009 10:26
Showing at the London Film Festival on October 25th (20:30), October 27th (13:45)
General release not yet confirmed
By Lewis Bazley.
Neither Vladimir and Estragon nor Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spent their time together in a 35-year-old BMW driving endlessly around Los Angeles but, if they had, the results might not have been too dissimilar to writer/director Matt Bissonette's third film.
On the surface a low-budget indie with little to offer other than a threadbare plot and smart-aleck dialogue, Bissonette draws fine performances from his brother Joel - as recovering addict Tobey - and Adam Scott, as exasperated older sibling Michael, resulting in a superb and succinct film whose story is secondary to the manner in which it is told. Without the chemistry between our leads, their affectionate sniping could irritate but Scott clearly learnt from his experience as a supporting actor in the woeful Step Brothers and helps make the interplay between Michael and Joel seem authentic, even at its most raw, rather than as if sprung from a witty quip generator.
The Bissonette in front of the camera is a perfect foil for Scott's cowardly and insular author, bringing quiet sadness to his character's selfish reliance on his brother while, in the director's chair, Matt Bissonette takes a backseat allowing dialogue and the California landscape to drive the narrative.
While Michael and Tobey's encounters with the Pozzos and Luckys of their world feel forced at times, and Matt Bissonette is over-reliant on melancholy soundtrack choices and lengthy shots of sunny scenery, this is a gentle Sunday of a comedy that revels in the power of language.