Slamdance 2011 Review: Pete Smalls is Dead
Slamdance 2011 Review: Pete Smalls is Dead
Pete Dinklage leads a stellar cast including Tim Roth, Seymour Cassel, Rosie Perez, and Steve Buscemi in the Hollywood mystery comedy "Pete Smalls is Dead"
Making its way along the film festival circuit from Slamdance to Berlin next, Pete Smalls is Dead again proves the value of Peter Dinklage as an actor and Alexandre Rockwell as a director. Dinklage, best-loved for his moving performance in The Station Agent, anchors a carnivalesque band of Los Angeles rejects striving for redemption. Dinklage leads as C.K. Monk, a former Hollywood filmmaker whose world fell apart ten years ago both professionally and personally.
Alone in life, with only his dog and best friend Buddha comforting him, C.K. watches his former friend and partner Pete Smalls (Tim Roth) rocket to fame and fortune as a big budget director. As the story begins, Monk is indebted to a small time, loan shark back in New York where he has spent his time working at a Laundromat. The loan shark, hoping to provide Monk with some extra incentive to pay up, kidnaps Buddha in exchange for ten thousand dollars.
Meanwhile, C.K. learns about Pete’s untimely suicide following the debacle of his latest project. He reconnects with former friend Jack (Mark Boone Junior) who informs him of a way to get the ten thousand fast, but only if he comes back to LA to pay his respects. C.K. feels dubious at best about returning but to save his sick, cataract-ridden dog, he’d do anything. Soon enough, Jack brings Monk in on his scheme to blackmail Pete’s widow Julia (Rosie Perez) and shady producer Hal Lazar for the money involving a mysterious script from their past. Little do they realize that this script will lead them to eccentric lawyers, Armenian gangsters, and Pete’s own editor Saskia (Theresa Wayman in a solid, feature debut) who knows more about Pete’s demise than she initially lets on about.
Comedy abounds as Monk sinks further into despair over Buddha and tries to dig himself out of the pit that is Los Angeles, while keeping himself alive. Director Alexandre Rockwell has returned to form with his latest work; hearkening back to the spirit of early 90’s filmmaking by featuring diverse, eccentric characters as well as actors who first came to major prominence during that heyday like Dinklage (Living in Oblivion) as well as Roth and fellow co-star Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs).
As I watched, I couldn’t help but feel that Rockwell may himself as Monk in some fashion as a guy who held with promise only to watch his peers ascend the Hollywood golden path without him. However, the filmmaker found the perfect voice for his frustration through Dinklage; despite his stature, Peter is a performer whose eyes and gestures hold a world of emotion. In another age, he could have been a silent film actor without problem; his ability to elicit emotion with such ease is a skill many other “stars” frankly lack today.
Never does a scene arise where you look down upon him, he asks for your understanding but never your sympathy. As Monk, he crafts a performance through which years of depression and disillusionment are slowly chipped away by hope and perhaps, love. Surrounding Dinklage is a cast that perfectly complements the indie film spirit the film is mired in; you have Seymour Cassel as Saco, an Armenian gangster who is clearly a valentine to John Cassavetes, Steve Buscemi as Bernie Lake, a creepy shyster that only he could handle and Mark Boone Junior, who has been a criminally underappreciated, indie actor for years now but turns in a heartfelt yet hysterical turn as Jack.
These are all guys who, like Rockwell, came up in a scene that was still fresh and pure only to watch it change with higher budgets and egos. Rockwell, through his cast and story, reflects on what independent film was and rather than lose hope, points forward towards a possible, brighter future.
To learn more, go to www.petesmallsisdead.com
