'Easy Does It' - A Successful Tarantino Love Child
When looking at the poster for this flick, I thought someone was pulling a photoshop prank by giving Linda Hamilton cornrows, thankfully the intentional quirkiness behind the wardrobe is an incredibly successful choice in the love child between Quentin Tarantino and Terry Gilliam with "Easy Does It." The excessive grindhouse-style New Hollywood throwback is a loving tribute to the films of old weaving together a friends on the run style film similar to "Bonnie and Clyde" or "Thelma & Louise" with a dash of "Easy Rider." Despite being heavy in homage, there's enough originality to make the picture stand its ground. Not a single shot is used as mere coverage, nor is a scene wasted on pointless filler material.
Jack Buckner (Ben Matheny) and Scottie Aldo (Matthew Paul Martinez) are your typical out of luck pals who wash dishes to make ends meet. When Jack's mom dies, she leaves her inheritance in San Clemente, California. The boys embark on a road trip for thousands of miles with no money in hand to get the fortune. Stealing a car, they don't own from the town's kingpin King George (Linda Hamilton); the guys take whatever cash they can from any convenience store imaginable. To gain leverage in their banditry, they exploit Collin Hornsby (Cory Dumesnil), a pedestrian turned hostage, turned friend. Our antiheroes are fun to watch. The chemistry between Matheny, Martinez, and Dumesnil is lovely through their probably improvisational dialogue; there was enough for me to invest in their idiotic thievery.
The supporting cast is charismatic in their own rights with Linda Hamilton chewing up the scenery in a role that I bizarrely couldn't see anyone else playing. One of the original female badasses from the 90s Hamilton is among a rare class of women that men can embrace as an intimidating figure. With her hideous haircut, chipped golden grill, and business male atelier, Hamilton snarls her way as the film's antagonist in a welcoming role other than Sarah Connor. To accompany Hamilton's character is her daughter Blue Eyes (Susan Gordon), a psychologically tormented basket case with an obsessive affinity for baseball. Think of Negan from the "Walking Dead" if he were on the verge of breaking into tears while smashing Glen's brains in.
There are times when a film is strong more through its style than its script. Such an occurrence is rare as it can lead to an experimental rabbit hole of pretentious disaster. The editing by Stephen Pfeil is masterful. With the application of extreme rapid cutting, there are various moments of pure exuberance. Like "Easy Rider," the random montages of our three characters while high is meant to connect the audience to their mindset opposing to sentimental bits of dialogue. The colors are orgasmic in quality. Its intentional usage of switching filters, fireworks, nondiegetic radio soundbites and rapid zooms is thrown into an overwhelming drug trip that is unlike "Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas" meant to be welcoming to the mind's senses. Don't think about why the movie is the way it is; just enjoy the trip.
A pitfall that can be found in Director Will Addison's grandiose style can be his attempt in finding a meaning to an otherwise simple caper. There are various vignettes of cropped interviews abruptly cut into the picture each time the film switches acts. These interviews feature every character providing their definition of what The American Dream is. Attempting to cling these nonlinear featurettes to an otherwise straightforward narrative is questionable regarding their intention. I understood the theme of the impoverished, desperately clinging onto what seems to be a delusion that's used more as a marketing ploy than an achievable goal. What the narrative has already given the audience is durable enough for these segments to seem like more of a distraction than an auteurist choice. There are times when it's okay to use traditional storytelling methods.
Bristling with energy, "Easy Does It" is an enormously entertaining movie about friendship that is unusually sweet. Even though there are no morally redeeming characters in this film, I still liked them. The choices they make are absurd, but that's why they're so charming. Through poverty and despair, we find unity. These bizarre relationships are the very point of an intentional B-movie made with an A-movie level of talent. It's their ability to connect to people who we otherwise would despise. "Easy Does It" is the type of film that you can enjoy with a few friends while smoking a joint. Just remember to stay six feet away from each other and use your own weed for now.
