Film Review: Some Days Are Better Than Others

Experimental filmmaker Matt McCormick makes his feature debut with his meditation on time and loss in Some Days Are Better Than Others

Matt McCormick’s feature debut, Some Days Are Better Than Others, is a film that questions the idea of loss in our lives and how to confront a world that moves unendingly forward, without compassion or consideration. The director of various video installations and experimental films including The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal, McCormick has found himself busy lately with this new project, given its New York premiere at Film Society of Lincoln Center’s New Directors/New Films film series as well as its US theatrical run courtesy of Palisades Tartan. McCormick sets his tale of interlocked characters dealing with the passage of time in his home base of Portland, Oregon, juxtaposing the surrounding ocean side’s timeless beauty with images of urban decay.

The plot alternates between four main participants: Katrina (Carrie Brownstein), a well-meaning video diarist whose personal world comes apart due to betrayal, Eli (James Mercer), a Gen X-aged slacker whose philosophical position against work is worn down by years of struggle and annoyance, his step-grandfather Otis (David Wodehouse), an elderly filmmaker whose work never received its due, and Camille (Renee Roman Nose), an introverted thrift store worker who deals with the discarded debris of lives. Each narrative thread examines the same basic problem from competing points: how do we, as human beings, cope when the best times of our lives have passed us by and all that seems to be left is disappointment. For Katrina, her dilemma is that of anyone who has built their self-perception upon the foundation of others’ approval; when that supposed anchor is suddenly yanked away, how does one face the day?

Eli and Otis share similar predicaments in that their anxiety comes from life slowly slipping away without having anything meaningful to show for it. A veteran of temp jobs, one more mundane than the next, Eli complains about his unyielding, financially threadbare existence while thinking of every excuse not to take a regular, steady job. In Otis though, he finds a compassionate soul mate who is kind but cursed by seeing his fascinating work (soap bubbles explored in extreme close-up revealing extraordinary, psychedelic patterns) exist in obscurity and struggling against what little time he has left. Camille though faces perhaps the most tragic journey of all; as a woman who sorts through discarded personal items on a daily basis, she is used to seeing the remnants of people’s lives treated as trash. Yet her discovery of a child’s urn and its subsequent dismissal by everyone moves her to take action, as difficult as that is for her due to incredibly shyness.

Shot in clean, cool colors and sporting an electronic soundtrack that at times is ambient as well as droning, McCormick show no lack of aesthetic control within the frame. The simple camera work and framing belies an emotionally, cool tone that mirrors the disconnection his characters struggle against daily. Performance-wise, musicians Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney, IFC’s Portlandia) and James Mercer (The Shins) are both affable and attention-holding as Katrina and Eli respectively. While both exude certain hipness, thankfully it does not devolve into bland hipsterness. Mercer especially demonstrates a wry, comedic sensibility while Brownstein effortless communicates Katrina’s emotional state on her sleeve and delivers the appropriate shades of poignancy and sweetness the character requires.

In terms of connection to McCormick’s previous films and videos, Some Days is a natural, longer extension of his explorations into decay and time. Ultimately, the tension between the actors’ humanity and the chilly aestheticism of McCormick’s mise en scene perfectly mirrors the struggle between living in the moment and surviving its inevitable end.

To check the film out at New Directors/New Films, go to www.newdirectors.org, for everyone else, keep an eye out at www.palisadestartan.com