Tonight’s American Cinematheque’s Alternative Screen offering at 7:30 is Mark Anthony Galluzzo’s “Trash,” a potent coming-of-age melodrama set on the wrong side of the tracks in a small Southern town.
The focal point is the close bond between two high school seniors, Sonny (Jeremy Sisto) and Anthony (Eric Michael Cole), who have grown up together almost like brothers but whose relationship is beginning to strain as the effects of their differing family lives are shaping their goals and destinies. Sonny is cursed with unloving, constantly fighting, totally destructive parents whereas Anthony not only has a caring, encouraging mother (Grace Zabriskie) but also a concerned principal (Victoria Cartwright) who has discovered his writing ability, and eventually even a pretty, well-off girlfriend (Jaime Pressly), who has more reason to understand him than he knows.
In this highly personal film, Galluzzo makes us wonder which young man will most influence the other as Sonny becomes more self-destructive in his rage whereas Anthony is beginning to want more out of life despite terrific social pressure not to. In his feature debut, Galluzzo impresses as a storyteller and in his ability to draw strong portrayals from his cast; even though Sisto is a little too mannered, he is nevertheless an emotional dynamo in expressing the conflicts that are tearing Sonny apart.
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