Best Overlooked Film Revisited: 2006
By Tom Houseman
March 4, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Continuing down the list doesn't get much better. Seven of the films in this group grossed at least $17 million, and three just barely snuck into the cutoff to be considered underrated, each making around $24 million. One of those films, An Inconvenient Truth, became a nationwide phenomenon and an extremely controversial film and didn't seem to have been overlooked by anyone. Then, of course, there's Pan's Labyrinth. While at the time of voting it was still within the parameters of "overlooked" status it ended up making more than $37 million and collecting a couple of Oscars. Today it is rightfully considered a modern classic.
But where are the seriously overlooked films from 2006? The films that never even came close to cracking eight figures, much less pulling in $20 million? Where are the gems that aren't forgotten because they were never even looked at in the first place? More importantly, where are the movies that are so goddamned depressing that you'll want to rip your eyes out of their sockets just to stop the tears?
Yes, if I had cast my ballot for the 2007 Calvin Award for Best Overlooked Film, I would have packed the list with movies so depressing and disturbing that the DVDs should come with tissues and barf bags. Of the ten films on my list, only one is a comedy, and the rest fall somewhere in between tear-jerking and soul-destroying. I suppose there's a reason that audiences didn't rush out to see these movies, but it's still a shame, as all of these films are worth watching once, even if you wouldn't be able to stomach a second sitting.
At number ten is a movie that has gained an added relevance due to current events, not because of the war in Iraq or the recession, but because it is titled The Dead Girl and the title character is played by Brittany Murphy. This is an appropriate film to kick off such a depressing list, as it could just as easily have been called Death, Actually. The film examines the lives of a group of women, each of whom have been impacted by the death of a prostitute. They include a mortician who thinks that the dead girl might be her missing sister, the dead girl's best friend and the dead girl's mother. The clear scene stealer is Toni Collette as the woman who finds the girl's body, giving the best performance of the year. Murphy is also great, as are Marcia Gay Harden, Rose Byrne and Kerry Washington, in Karen Moncreiff's fantastic followup to her debut film, Blue Car.
Things get, if possible, more depressing at number nine, and who better to plumb the depths of human misery than the Dardenne brothers? This French filmmaking duo deservedly won the Palm D'or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival with their film L'Enfant. L'Enfant tells the story of small time crook named Bruno, who has to get his life on track when his girlfriend gives birth. Instead, he does the next best thing: he sells the baby. Not surprisingly, his girlfriend objects and things don't go exactly as Bruno plans them to. The Dardennes have put together a superb filmography telling the stories of the marginalized members of European society, and I highly doubt that any of their films have a happy ending. While not the best movie to play at a baby shower, L'Enfant is a powerful and beautiful film.
Things get a little bit lighter at number eight, one of the few films on this list that was on the original BOP list. Rian Johnson made a dynamite debut with Brick, a modern film noir set in high school. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, his second starring role in a great overlooked film following the previous year's Mysterious Skin. Gordon-Levitt plays Brendan, a high schooler investigating the murder of his ex-girlfriend. He becomes embroiled in a complicated and twisted world that is different from what any of us imagined the popular kids did in high school. Brick is an utterly entrancing film with a few entertaining twists and some darkly comic moments.
Number seven brings back the depression in spades with Philip Noyce's political thriller Catch a Fire. The film is set during Apartheid-era South Africa (for those of you who aren't up to speed, Apartheid is like what they had in District 9 but without the aliens), and tells the story of Patrick Chamusso, a man unjustly arrested on suspicion of terrorist activity. The torture that he endures wakes him up to the injustices of the political system, and he becomes a freedom fighter. Derek Luke is one of the most underrated actors of the decade, and this is one of his standout performances. He stands toe-to-toe with Tim Robbins, who plays the government agent following Chamusso. A poignant and captivating film, Catch a Fire is a wakeup call to everyone who thinks that they can just ignore political injustice and hope it will go away.
For those of you who need a breather from all this death and misery, John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus will come as a relief at number six. The film is a celebration of sex and the power it has to bring people together. Not surprisingly, it received an NC-17 rating, but it is absurd that an uplifting and honest film like this is banned from most theaters while films like Saw and Hostel get away with R ratings. A group of people with various sexual and emotional dysfunctions come together at the Shortbus sex club, named after the kind of bus that takes the "special" kids to school. The film is driven (no pun intended) by a phenomenal cast of amateur actors, including great performances by Sook-Yin Lee as a sex therapist, Paul Dawson and P.J. Deboy as a couple on the verge of breaking up, and Lindsey Beamish as a professional dominatrix. As you can imagine, it is quite a unique film.
Number five takes us back to South Africa and into the realm of the thoroughly depressing. Tsotsi was the very deserving winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, which sadly didn't give it much help in getting noticed by American audiences. Tsotsi is a gang leader in South Africa who has become hardened and cruel. He kills a woman and steals her car, only to find her baby in the back seat, and he decides to raise the child himself. Presley Chweneyagae gives a phenomenal debut performance as the title character in this heartbreaking film that shows the hardships faced by orphans in South Africa. How Gavin Hood went from making this to X-Men Origins: Wolverine I'll never know.
Inland Empire, my number four film, isn't so much depressing as it is a baffling mind trip. Of course, I could have just told you that it was directed by David Lynch and you would have figured that out for yourself. Lynch completely departed from reality with this film, a three-hour experimental, surreal exploration of where dreams and reality converge in movies. Laura Dern is phenomenal in the lead, playing both Nikki Grace and Susan Blue (it's difficult to tell who she is at any given moment), an actress who loses herself in her character. Lynch's films tend to be difficult to watch and even harder to understand, but this might be his opus. There's also a few breaks from the plot for a sitcom involving people in rabbit costumes but, you know, what do you expect? It's David freaking Lynch.
My number three film might be the most brutal film on this list (but number one is certainly the most disturbing). The Proposition is an Australian western written by musician Nick Cave, and is both beautiful to look at and an emotional assault on the viewer. Guy Pearce stars as an outlaw who makes a deal with a lawman to turn in his dangerous brother in exchange for his own freedom. The film questions conventional notions of loyalty and family, in addition to featuring some horrifying violence. But mostly it is a beautifully shot, beautifully scored film with great supporting performances by Danny Huston, Emily Watson and John Hurt. It is no surprise that this is the film that got director John Hillcoat the job of directing The Road.
Night Watch, coming in at number two, is the most entertaining film on this list, and the one that I'm most disappointed about not getting more attention from American moviegoers. Who needs Lord of the Rings when you have this epic fantasy film, set in modern day Russia, about the ultimate battle between the forces of good and evil? Konstantin Khabenskly stars as Anton, a member of the Night Watch, one of the good guys who is entrusted with keeping the forces of darkness in check. He discovers that his son is the chosen one who will decide in which direction the battle for humanity will sway, and is being chased by a guy who can literally pull his spine out of his back and use it as a sword. Night Watch is one of the most visually inventive films I've ever seen, and is a total trip to watch, featuring outrageous action sequences. The first Russian blockbuster since the fall of the Soviet Union, Night Watch is an incredible film experience.
And what was the best overlooked film of 2006? I have no doubt that I would cast my vote for Hard Candy. An extremely controversial film, and one of the most disturbing movies of the decade (along with a few other films that I'll get to in the next couple of week), you might know Hard Candy as the movie in which Juno cuts of Nite Owl's balls. Really though, it's so much more than that. Patrick Wilson plays Jeff, a photographer with a habit of meeting young girls in chatrooms and bringing them to his apartment for what I can only assume are marathon backgammon tournaments (just kidding, he probably rapes and kills them). Things get complicated when one girl turns the tables. Hayley (Ellen Page giving one of the most gripping performances of the decade) drugs Jeff and ties him up, psychologically torturing him - in addition to the aforementioned testicle removal - and making him pay for his crimes. Hard Candy is a fascinating and horrifying film, and while it's certainly not fun for the whole family (except maybe the Manson family), such a brilliant movie deserves so much more attention than it got.
1) Hard Candy
2) Night Watch
3) The Proposition
4) Inland Empire
5) Tsotsi
6) Shortbus
7) Catch a Fire
8) Brick
9) L'Enfant
10) The Dead Girl