One wrong choice can plunge your life into chaos. But what if you've actively pursued your path despite having multiple outs from the current situation?
That's the premise of the Blaine Thurier's new dark comedy A Gun to the Head. The New Pornographers' keyboard player takes a very light-handed approach in writing/directing the story of a reformed drug dealer (played by Tygh Runyan) thrown back into his old life one night after receiving a phone call from his miscreant cousin (Paul Anthony). Trevor, despite his initial excitement, turns down his cousin's request for a beer because his trophy wife Grace (Marnie Robinson) is hosting an important dinner party for her boss and his girlfriend. After a few minutes in the company of Grace's hyper-positive weirdo employer and spacey life mate, Trevor decides to make a quick run to the liquor store for some wine - and his descent begins to quickly snowball from there.
The city of Vancouver plays an important role in conveying the film's emotion (somewhere between uncertainty and excitement) and anyone who has been to the mainland will no doubt feel a sense of familiarity when Trevor begins driving around the evening streets. Not since On the Corner (2003) has Van City's beauty and grit been filmed with such life and honesty. Another strength of Thurier's is his ability to write multi-dimensional characters. When Trevor refuses to allow his cousin to be bullied by local thugs we are introduced to criminal philosopher Sam, played with unique wit by Hrothgar Mathews. Sam is a likeable psychopath who demands respect above all else, and when he selects Trevor to find his cousin - at gunpoint - the film really starts displaying unique feathers.
A Gun to the Head's largely improvised dialogue works in tandem with its minimalist approaches to editing and cinematography. Some of the jokes and conversations are more profound than others, but the film never allows itself to stall out on contrivances. The plot's ride is guided gently for the viewer by the savvy writer/director who makes sure the intersecting storylines' sharpened points are filed down for easy digestibility. Thurier lets the action unwind subtly and does a good job of building towards a plausible and satisfying climax. He makes no excuses for Trevor's self-induced dilemmas with his script, which makes what could be a simple morality tale more densely layered.
With a run time of just 88 minutes, A Gun to the Head is a good little film to take in, ripe with comedic self-awareness and well-developed story building.
A Gun to the Head plays tonight, 9:30pm at the Plaza Theatre (1133 Kensington Rd. NW) as part of the Calgary Underground Film Festival.
View the trailer here.
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