[img]7|left|||no_popup[/img]The Hollywood answer to problems in filmmaking often rests on the time-honoured tradition of throwing money around. Independents, however, for whom even the price of a shoestring can seem daunting, have to rely on a more precious commodity: creative, lateral thinking. Hence the mockumentary format, which is ideally suited to resolving the discrepancy between a filmmaker’s ambition and budget-dependent production capabilities. With the very idea of grittiness built into the format, what can be a weakness becomes a strength and we don’t have to worry about distractions like tacked-on special effects, rubber costumes, and improvisations that work much like the signs that beggars wave around in hopes of a handout. Last year’s football mockumentary “4th and Long,” for example, showed that good acting, good writing, and good post-production work can work with the available budget to create a robust, mature film.

A Flaw or Two

Now we get, from Canada, “The Notorious Newman Brothers,” a lampoon of Mafia and filmmaking clichés that pits a helpless milquetoast of a director against the titular siblings in the struggle to document daily Mafioso life. Or so it seems. The clever conceit, always a bountiful source of comedy, is that self-delusions are more inflated than reality. With the breezy conversational style popularized by The Office, including the uncanny ability to be both funny and uncomfortable, the Newman Brothers are gradually exposed as more braggadocio than substance just as Max Chaplin takes meekness to new nebbish lows. The brothers Butler – Brett as “Thunderclap” Newman and Jason as Paulie Newman – slip comfortably and deliberately into the skin of gangster caricatures with all the subtlety of a Goodfeathers cartoon. They offer up characters chock-full of overcooked metaphors and improbably eloquent sentences, tough-guys who swallowed a thesaurus. Ryan Noel (also the film’s director and co-writer) is the foil who plays Chaplin as a patsy with a remarkable knack for sounding whiny without shredding the chalkboard. All three have the personal charisma to sell the strange dynamic of wannabes playing a game of let’s pretend.

If only the slow pace didn’t gum up the comic timing so often. For an otherwise crackerjack film – Noel makes very good, humourous use of slides with quotes from famous gangster films, and the camerawork has the right street cred – too many conversations linger when they should zip. It’s not that it isn’t funny to watch Thunderclap try to persuade Paulie of the value of wearing a pirate eye patch; it’s just that after a few minutes of it we’re ready to walk ourselves off the plank. In essence, the film is a series of scenarios without the connective tissue of plot or evolving characters to patch over the slow bits. For all that, “The Notorious Newman Brothers” is what it is: a good-natured, goofy jab. It’s not high satire by any stretch, nor does it try to be, but Noel and the Butlers do achieve an infectious, mostly harmless (if uneven) piece of silliness.

*Entertainment Value:* ** (out of two)
*Technical Quality:* * (out of two)

The Notorious Newman Brothers. Written by Ryan Noel, Brett Butler, and Jason Butler. Starring Ryan Noel, Brett Butler, and Jason Butler. 80 minutes. Visit http://www.myspace.com/thenotoriousnewmanbros for screening information.

Frédérik invites you to discuss this movie and more at his blog, ink and ashes.