Strong acting by a trio of leads and much astute writing and directing from Mark Anthony Galluzzo, in his feature debut, can't keep the well-intentioned "Trash" from self-destructing during its final reel. The low-budget indie bows locally Tuesday as part of the second annual Method Fest, a minishowcase of "breakout acting performances," at Laemmle's Playhouse 7 in Pasadena.
Talk about breaking out. While it never quite penetrates his thick skull long enough to avoid a tragic denouement, headliner Jeremy Sisto's rough-and-tumble character, Sonny, needs to immediately flee the small-town poverty that he has always known. Car mechanic Sonny's best friend, Anthony (Eric Michael Cole), is a ready companion for the usual pressure-releasing activities -- fighting, drinking, joyriding with girls -- but this quieter, more introspective "cracker" just may have a knack for writing.
Filmed in Florida and surprisingly accomplished in all technical aspects, "Trash" knowingly collides with some cliches and avoids others. Underscoring the loosely plotted story of Sonny and Anthony's struggle to find a better life or be content with the one they have are the repressed emotions both have for the accidental death of another friend while hunting in the woods, a bloody event that occurs in the
effectively unsettling opening.
Employing a nonessential narration and other none-too-
revolutionary techniques, including too much slow-motion in crucial sequences, Galluzzo is, overall, successful in creating believable "poor white trash" leads, including CJ (Jaime Pressly), a "rich girl" who takes a liking to Anthony.
The seemingly mismatched romance is a counterpoint to the simmering resentment of Sonny toward anyone who claims to be better than he and his ilk. But the truth is always more complex than it first appears in Galluzzo's often sparkling script.
Although his school principal gushes that he could be a prodigy, Anthony's no genius. He does know how crummy Sonny's home life is and earnestly tries to get them both on their way to college. But Sonny and Galluzzo take the easy way out, and the violent, flawed finale exists mainly to provide Sisto (CBS' "Jesus") with an opportunity to exercise his considerable thespian talents.
Jonathan Banks as CJ's protective father and Grace Zabriskie and Veronica Cartwright in minor roles are momentarily reassuring presences. But it's not hard to pick up on this project's sternly dramatic arc, which starts and ends violently and rarely lightens up in its sympathetic portrayal of all-too-human "Trash."
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