Post by StevePulaski on Oct 17, 2017 16:53:45 GMT -5
Dean (2017)
Directed by: Demetri Martin
Directed by: Demetri Martin
Demetri Martin (left) and Kevin Kline (right) play a grieving son and father, respectively, in Dean.
Rating: ★★★
In many ways, Demetri Martin's Dean has all the hallmarks of a directorial debut. It lacks polish, it's a personal story with a lot of introspective resonance, and is marked by a need to narrate intermittently in order to fill in the gaps Martin doesn't quite know how to fill in with writing. It's one of countless films made about grief, not nearly as compelling or as effective as Manchester by the Sea but also not as strangely assembled as something like Jackie. It's caught in the middle, like Martin himself, yet finds a way to surprise simply by being its earnest self - also like Martin.
The film gets off on the right foot because, within the first ten minutes, you can tell Martin isn't making this a film that's meant to be more than a personal ode. Despite losing his father at the age of 20, Martin decides to make the death of his mother the central kickstarter of a grieving funk in which his self-reflexive character finds himself. An illustrator who scrounges for freelance jobs where he's paid in scraps, the Brooklyn-based college grad has called off the engagement to his fiancée and spends his days making sure his father (Kevin Kline) is straight enough to get through the day.
Dean decides to dart off to Los Angeles on impulse upon being interrogated by his father about his unwillingness to search through his mothers' belongings. During his excursion in the unwound, sunny coast, he meet Nicky (Gillian Jacobs) at a party and falls in lust with her free-bird sensibilities. Right off the bat, we know, not only as season-moviegoers but through the nudging realism (cynicism) in our minds that Nicky doesn't have what it takes to fix Dean's morose attitude nor does she possess the healing touch he needs to assure all will be okay.
Nicky is actually the antithesis of what many assume Dean needs at this point in time. She provides a sassy, caustic sense of dry humor that warms his heart because it complements his aura and the drawings that litter his notebook. She doesn't butter him with false platitudes and glimmers of hope. When the two get to talking about Dean's poor outlook at the moment, they touch on the fact that, for many, the loss of a parent is the first thing you'll never truly be able to forget or "get over" in the conventional sense. It cuts deeper because, rather than losing a relationship, where one person presumably loved and cared about you for a brief time, you've just loss somebody who was there with you since you were born - or, in this case, brought you into the world.
Martin, who is 42 yet his shaggy-haired self can still convincingly play a college graduate, understands that with age and wisdom under his belt, although he might not put it quite as confidently as I did. He shows an affinity for placement as much as Josh Salzberg shows his for editing together Dean is a compelling manner. Take note of the scene in an art gallery, where the paintings and landscapes come to life by subtly interfering and communicating their presences with the characters during an unusually tense moment in the film.
Also take note of how Salzberg occasionally manages to get the music of the film to match the beats of the on-screen action, allowing a rare sense of synchronization. Moments like this make up from the "first filminess" of the project, but even then, Martin's inexperience behind the camera never hinders him to make a meaningful misstep. Whatever confidence he lacks behind the camera is made up with his strengths in front of the camera that also transcend what could be instinctively seen as a vain practice.
Dean features a welcome personal-edge in the form of Martin's autobiographical story that predates his fame with the assistance of veteran performers in Kline and Mary Steenburgen to pull the weight of a serviceable subplot. There's a warm whimsicality to the narrative that doesn't bog it down with unwarranted pathos with a sweet dose of light-hearted comedy that doesn't undercut the emotion behind the project. For a filmmaker to pull of this admittedly difficult balance on his first directorial outing is admirable and inspires at least some base-level of curiosity to see what else Martin will bring to the table in the future.
Starring: Demetri Martin, Kevin Kline, Gillian Jacobs, Reid Scott, Mary Steenburgen, and Christine Woods. Directed by: Demetri Martin.