Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I think it's safe to say that there is no other movie like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. It's one of the most madcap, high energy, relentless films I have ever seen. And it may also be brilliant. Films simply aren't told the way Scott Pilgrim is, so to see a film completely ignore the rules of film making so brazenly is liberating, if not a bit difficult to come to terms with. I've read the books upon which this is based, but even I was unsure of what to make of the movie for the first fifteen minutes or so. It was as if director Edgar Wright was incapable of letting a scene finish before he had already started the next one. Hell, sometimes it seemed as though one scene was simply happening on top of another. And yet, once I embraced the way the film was being told, it was exhilarating.

Michael Cera is Scott Pilgrim, a twenty-something layabout who meets the girl of his dreams (literally), Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). The catch is, she comes with a lot of baggage in the form of seven evil exes that Scott must defeat. What follows is a cacophony of fights, songs, split screens, Vegan Police, giant sound wave monsters, explosions of coins, a studio audience, 8-bit studio logos, and more. And yet, it all serves a point. Unlike a film like Speed Racer, which assaults you for the sake of being abrasive, Scott Pilgrim uses its visual style to give us a better understanding of how Scott sees the world. His life is shaped (and stunted) by the video games, music, and comic books he enjoys. When he enters his apartment after a night with Ramona, it makes sense that in his mind he would enter to applause and cheers.

The film is fast paced, to say the least, but it gets across a lot of information and emotional depth as well. I was surprised how long it took the film to even get to the first fight scene, allowing us to meet our hero and his friends. The world in which Scott exists is fully realized and explored even before the first evil ex shows up to ruin the party. I will say that if there is one problem with the film, it's that Ramona remains so unknowable up until the end of the picture that you will find it hard to care for her. Now, that could be because we are seeing everything through Scott's eyes, as he himself isn't quite sure what to make of her. But that doesn't make it less difficult when you're trying to understand why Scott would put up with all the evil exes for her. The film ultimately comes to a point where he is fighting them more for himself than for her, but it still would have been nice to understand what it is that these two characters see in each other.

If the visual imagination on display is the high point of the film, the acting is a close second. Considering the genre, that's actually pretty amazing. While I was left cold by Mary Elizabeth Winstead (the point, I understand that), I was actually quite charmed by Michael Cera. While he isn't the Scott Pilgrim I envisioned when reading the books, he also isn't the Michael Cera I've seen in everything else Cera has made. He is rude, selfish, and aloof, and yet that makes him all the more endearing when he tries to come to terms with what is being foisted upon him. The various exes steal their limited screen time, with Brandon Routh and Chris Evans bringing a level of narcissism to their characters that make their downfall all the more hilarious. But the best performances in the film come from Kieran Culkin as Scott's gay roommate Wallace, and newcomer Ellen Wong as Scott's underage girlfriend Knives. The two throw themselves at their characters with such abandon that they rise above the goofiness to feel like the most fully realized people in the movie.

Edgar Wright is a man still early in his career, and yet it feels like he is a master of cinema in a way few people his age could ever hope to be. His vision for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is so fully realized that you never doubt the choices he makes with the film. And that is absolutely vital with material like this. If for even a second you don't buy what he is doing visually, the whole film collapses (again, Speed Racer). This is the kind of material that simply shouldn't translate to screen well, and the fact that Wright figured out how to translate it perfectly makes the film feel mildly revolutionary.

The Marc Pease Experience

Everyone is an expert at something: some people are experts in medicine, others are experts in auto mechanics. I am an expert on The Marc Pease Experience. Outside of those involved directly with the film, I have probably seen it more times than anyone else. Back in 2007 I saw it in its earliest stages. Last year I saw it again in a more finished form. And now, here it is, finally being released in 2009. Judging by the release it's getting, though, I will probably remain the preeminent expert on the film for a long time to come. You'd be forgiven if you have no idea what film I am talking about, as there has been no promotion for it at all. And not in the "they should have promoted it more" sense. No, they literally never cut a trailer or made a poster (what you see to the right is an old announcement poster from when this was still in production). You might be surprised to know it stars Jason Schwartzman, Ben Stiller, and one of the women of Twilight. How does a movie like this get no push at all? Well, it could be because it's one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

The film is about a young man named Marc Pease (Schwartzman), who was a big musical theater star in high school, but choked during the big performance. Since then, he's been mentally stuck in his high school days, unable to move on. He is dating a high school girl, is in an A Capella band, and constantly pesters his high school drama teacher Mr. Gribble (Stiller) about getting him and his band a record deal. When Marc learns that Gribble will be putting on a production of The Wiz, the very same show he choked so many years ago, his life goes into a tailspin. Fairly simple stuff, and it very much plays as a family friendly comedy, save for one detail: it's filled with pedophilia.

That's right, Marc Pease is basically a pedophile. He is dating (and we can assume doing more with) a young high school girl (even if she is 18, it's implied they've been together longer than that). But it doesn't end there. Gribble is also striving for the affection of said girl. In fact, we see him kissing her early on. And the weirdest thing is, this aspect of the film is never mentioned or dealt with. It is accepted as a natural, matter-of-fact part of life that grown men will seduce underage women. This aspect of the film could have been used in a very darkly funny way, but instead the rest of the film aims for Nickelodeon level humor. As it stands, this whole element of the film is very jarring and does not fit into the film. And yet, without it the already unusually short film would be no more than an hour long. The film uses the fact that both men love the same girl as a point of conflict in the story. If it weren't for this aspect, there would be no drama at all. So basically the movie screwed itself by making the least likable aspect of the film a major part of the story while also not using it in any meaningful way. It's extraneous and yet can't be purged.

I'm not sure on the actual length of the film, but I would guess it is in the 70 minute range. And even then, the film is greatly padded. As mentioned before, Gribble is putting on The Wiz. At least a fourth of the film is people we have never seen before and who have no relevance to the plot performing scenes from The Wiz. The only character that we know that's in the play is the love interest, and her part is that of a glorified extra. With no context for the scenes we are shown from the play, and with no one in it worth caring about, this entire fourth of the film is utterly a waste. You get the sense that writer/director Todd Louiso is a big fan of high school theater and really wanted to share that love with the rest of the world. Well, congrats Todd, you got your chance!

The acting is across the board career low points. Schwartzman seems befuddled half the time, whiny the rest. He does the character of Marc no service by making him such a tool and a loser. And Stiller seems bored out of his mind. He is clearly not trying in the least bit, and you get the sense that the screenplay was thin and asked of him to improvise, and he simply refused. It's like they left spots for him to crack jokes and he just quietly stood there in defiance. At one point they even give him a musical number where he sits on a piano and sings a song for no reason! The weirdest part of the Pease/Gribble dynamic is that we are supposed to side with Marc in the battle between the two, and yet I found myself feeling more for Gribble. Here is a man who is being harassed daily by a guy in an A Capella group that isn't any good, being asked to get this sorry sack a record deal. On top of that, this pathetic manchild ruined his original staging of The Wiz eight years ago, and has now returned to do it once again. Because Stiller puts in no effort, Gribble lacks any emotion, and thus, any menace. He just seems like a sad, regular drama teacher. How can we possibly hate him and side with Marc? The only bad thing he does is making out with a teenager, but we already know Marc does the same thing so its moot (in the world of the film, of course).

Ultimately, we are supposed to route for Marc to grow up, overcome his childhood traumas, and move on. And sure enough, he does! He confronts Gribble, breaks up with his underage girlfriend, saves the play he already ruined once, and quits his ridiculous A Capella band. Marc Pease, you are now a man! So what does this newly minted adult do next? Why, he becomes a very bad lounge singer. Music swells, curtains fall, applause. But wait! Is this really a happy ending? Marc is still pursuing the same dream as before, one he is obviously no good at. He just moved from one horrible genre to another. Are we really supposed to think everything will be all better for a man who is emotionally stunted, has no realistic life skills, and a predilection towards underage women? The only real job he could possibly get is being a drama teacher in a high school, but we all know he would last about two weeks before a storm of lawsuits rain down upon him from angry parents and children with shattered lives.

The Marc Pease Experience is one of the more inept movies I have ever seen. It didn't make me angry, like Transformers did earlier this year, but it did make me sad. The only person involved that seems to have cared is Todd Louiso, but he was fighting against an Ed Wood level script, actors with no interest, and a studio hellbent on destroying his film. I really wish this had gotten some sort of real release so that I could read other opinions on the film. I am curious to see how fresh eyes would view this disaster. But instead, the film gets dumped into ten theaters ("with potential to expand if the market demands it" according to a press release). So I remain the lone expert on this debacle. Perhaps that is for the best.