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Kaffeine Buzz
reviews independent and foreign films,
in addition to reporting the latest buzz behind
Colorado's film festivals.
The Rage in Placid Lake
(Tony McNamara)
Most of us know of Ben Lee from
his attack on the music scene some years back
with his band Noise Addict. I knew he dated actresses,
but little did I know that acting was also in
his bag of tricks. Lee is still heavy in the music,
having released Awake is the New Sleep
just this month, and is on tour with Har Mar Superstar.
In The Rage in Placid Lake,
Lee’s still got center stage as the lead
role, but this time around he reads from someone
else’s lines, screenwriter Tony
McNamara, who also directed Rage... using
the script from a stage play he wrote called The
Café Latte Kid.
There’s something about the British and
the way they write romantic comedies, utilizing
a darker, quirky sense of humor versus the fluffy,
high school girl crush formula of American versions.
Rage… is no exception, and McNamara and
his cast take a story of an outcast to new heights
with that endearing yet hilarious quality of last
year’s Garden State (an exception to the
American film rule).
Lee’s character Placid Lake
(the name itself is enough to get one giggling)
is a fearless smartass that had endured the typical
school bully ritual, caused by the mere fact of
being different. His cohort and childhood friend
Gemma, played by Rose
Byrne, is also a peculiar being with
a gift of cerebral superiority, which she uses
to confuse and annoy her classmates.
Rage… takes you on a journey of self discovery
as the two leave high school for the great beyond,
trying to determine who they a really are while
fending off the expectations of mainstream culture
and their parent’s pressure to be a certain
person. It’s those moments when Placid Lake
is trying to deal with his New Age, “channel
your energy” parents (his mother is played
by the great Miranda Richardson)
and their narcissistic nature that make for some
of the showcase the comedic timing of both Lee
and the script.
Then there are the scenes where the character’s
line read more like poetic scripture for life,
from one man’s realization that he’s
traded his dreams for job security to the opposite
strategy of just going with what’s in your
heart in a fearless manner.
The Rage in Placid Lake is what we call
“owners,” something you pull from
your DVD library (when it actually gets to DVD)
on a rainy day when you’re not quite sure
what to do with your day or the rest of your life.
It may just inspire some epiphanies of your own.
www.starzfilmcenter.com
-Kim Owens, April 1, 2005
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