Guest blogger David Marin-Guzman shares his thoughts on Matthew Bissonnette's road movie Passenger Side.
Matthew Bissonnette’s retro-like Passenger Side has all the trappings of the indie road movie – the offbeat couple, quirky encounters, an emotional life lesson – but its subtlety and intelligence carves out a space of its own that’s refreshingly original. For one thing, there’s never been a film whose sarcasm has been so relentless.
After an early morning phone call, struggling writer Michael (Adam Scott) is forced to chauffer his drug-addict brother, Tobey (played by the director’s real life sibling, Joel Bissonnette) around LA on a series of errands without reason. In a day-long road trip that stretches from Beverley Hills to Joshua Tree, the two ex-pat Canadians come across a transvestite hooker, a boy missing two fingers and a desert psychic, all while debating such national issues as the sexual hotness of the Bush administration (Dick Cheney comes up trumps). Meanwhile, the caustic dialogue is broken up by car window vistas of oil rigs, industrial sprawl and ocean expanse, backed by Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne and Wilco’s eponymous folk-rock piece.
The pair’s detached, knowing humour carries a surrealism that perfectly matches the mystery at the heart of the film. Michael can’t tell whether Tobey’s looking for drugs, money or, as Tobey claims, the love of his life - but he plays it like he does. At the same time, the deadpan dialogue suggests a disavowal of knowledge that adds real pathos. This poignant, sometimes absurd, tension between knowns and unknowns is beautifully encapsulated by the film’s moving and unexpected final twist. It’s a twist that elegantly revises everything we’ve just seen and shows us up for ever underestimating the film.
But at the forefront of all this is Adam Scott. Previously relegated to side characters in Judd Apatow films like Knocked Up and Step Brothers, he takes on the lead role here with charm, intelligence and spot-on comic timing. Scott is a star in the making and Passenger Side is the perfect introduction.
Passenger Side has its Australian premiere Tuesday 2nd August at Dendy Opera Quays.
Watch the trailer: