UK men unhappy with their body
9 out of 10 British men hate themselves undressed, and four out of five ‘have no... [more]
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(20th Century Fox)
Rating: MA15+
Genre: Action
Starring: Edward Furlong, Rachael Bella
Directed by: Jon Schroder
Edward Furlong stars as Jimmy, playing a role quite obviously close to his own recent mental and physical degradation, a troubled, disruptive, violent youth. In an ill-advised move the filmmakers have shot this entire film in handheld camera, meaning that if you somehow get past the weak concept, overreaching storyline, clunky dialogue and sub-par acting, the shaky cinematography (and I use that term generously) makes the film literally impossible to watch without feeling both nauseous and irate.
The film’s website tells me Jimmy and Judy is the “ultimate teenage outcast road movie”. We’ll have to take their word for it because after watching several scenes begin and end with the camera pointing at the floor, I began losing interest. The camera work is so jarring it seems nought but lovers of vehicular interior design; and in particular the 1999 Ford Taurus, would be thrilled with the screen time given to the carpet, dash, and door trimmings of the iconic mid size family sedan. Meanwhile, as Judy (Rachael Bella) shook with all the emotion of a high school drama student and Jimmy’s pasty skin glistened like a hundred Pete Dohertys choking on overwrought speeches about hating life in the suburbs (when, oh when, will the emo era end!), I realised I couldn’t watch it in the way the producers intended.
In desperation, I began flipping through the DVD chapters in order to gain some level of insight that would not require me to hurl my remote at the TV or hurl the contents of my stomach into a bucket. From this method I gleaned that a tentative romance forms between the two misunderstood teens. The shy Judy is unlocked by the enigmatic and dangerous Jimmy, which we can tell both by the way her makeup and hair styling improves by the film’s end and her willingness to flash her boobs to the ever-present camera. But alas, this love story has not a happy ending. Before long it appears we have traversed the dangerous worlds of substance abuse, mental hospital imprisonment and finally, murderous intentions.
My poor partner who was in the room at the time of the screening and like rubbernecking at a horrific, multiple casualty crash found himself unable to look away, declared: “Let me think … yep … I think that is the worst film I have ever seen.”
When the credits rolled, I was compelled to insert some Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel) into the DVD player to reassure myself that not everyone making money from the teen market has such a low opinion of its audience’s ability to discern quality storytelling and production values.
