moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (05/28/85)
RESTLESS NATIVES (Great Britain, 1985)
Director: Michael Hoffman
Screenwriter: Ninlan Dunnett
Cast: Teri Lally, Vincent Friell, Joe Mullaney, Ned Beatty, Robert
Urquhart
WORLD PREMIERE
Every year, the Seattle Film Festival seems to premiere a film that
goes on to a great deal of popular success (for a small film,
anyway). Last year it was _Blood_Simple_ (also _The_Natural_, but
that, I believe, was not a premiere, and certainly not small) and, if
it is released soon nationwide, _The_Fourth_Man_. Previous films
of this caliber were _Local_Hero_ and _The_Stunt_Man_. And, for
my prediction for this year's film-which-goes-on-to-relative-fame,
_Reckless_Natives_. I should not be surprised seeing it hit the
independent circuit in about 4 months, and if you are in town
when it is, SEE IT.
Let me put it this way: not only is this one of the best films I've
seen at the festival, it is ENTERTAINMENT! Very good
entertainment. In short, something for a Friday night, if you're up
to it. The story is set in Scotland, where a couple of bored lads
decide to make a little extra money holding up tour busses in the
highlands. The idea is nothing new -- how many lovable crook
pictures have we seen over the last few years -- but the treatment
is. I'm sure I am neither the first or last to compare this to any of
Bill Forsythe's movies (_Local_Hero_ and especially
_Gregory's_Girl_), but the similarities are unavoidable. The two
boys doing this are straight out of _Gregory's_Girl_ -- they're so
shy, clumsy, inept, and completely innocent that you can never see
them as holdup men through the rest of the picture, which is just
as well, since the passengers of the bus, the world media, and the
entire town of Edinsborough (including the police) take the same
opinion. After the initial idea is out of the way, the rest of the
movie is devoted to the boys' problems with keeping their
identities secret, and the comedy which is derived from their
situation, and that's as much as I want to say about it, so as not to
spoil the fun you'll derive from it. The whole shebang is tied
together with a score by a band called Big Country which is
absolutely beautiful, and matches the highland photography which
permeates the picture so much. The cast is almost completely
unknowns (though I spotted a British actor who appears in some
BBC comedy shows) except for Ned Beatty playing the heavy CIA
agent (a role he has done well in other pictures, notably
_Hopscotch_). The producer and director were in attendance after
the film ended, and they got Beatty 24 hours before shooting
started. According to Beatty, it was the best script he had seen in
three years (no argument), and he accepted one-quarter his
standard fee to do the picture (and get in some fly-fishing in the
Lochs).
Incredibly, this film was made for under $1 million (I didn't think
anything short of porno films came under that mark), because it
looks as good as any independent film I've seen this year. It's one
of those movies where a good script and competent acting just
triumph over everything. In summary, if you see no other film I
recommend during the festival, see this one; I'll be very surprised
if you don't enjoy it.
"Some tottyhead is mixing genres!"
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
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