I first became aware of this movie at Blockbuster, back when the rental selection was 99% VHS and 1% DVD. It was in the Sundance section, and after picking things from that section for a while I was over it. But I remember seeing the cover with Vincent Gallo and Christina Ricci looking pretty dreadful. For some reason I thought it might be like The Doom Generation, which I loathed, and thus always passed.
But since then I have read favorable things about the movie and found out a little more about Vincent Gallo (friend of the late Jean Michel Basquiat, he’s been a model, rock musician, artist, break dancer, actor, writer, director, producer, etc. I also found out enough to know I don’t need to see The Brown Bunny). And I love good 90s independent cinema so I went for it. The movie is about a loser who gets out of jail and kidnaps a girl to take home to his parents, whom he hates but wants to show that he has made something of his life (married and a CIA agent). It is quirky, funny and sad. The direction is great, with a lot of fun stylistic ways of advancing the story. Other than a slow stretch before the final act, I would say it was entertaining and had good performances by all (Ben Gazzara and Anjelica Huston as his parents, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Corrigan and Jan-Michael Vincent in bit roles).
I will leave you with an unrelated quote from Mr. Gallo:
“I feel very happy that Bush is our president. One way that you can tell we have a good president, is by how much the French dislike him. The more the French hate him, the better he must be. And they hate this one.”
Grade: 91.5% A-
