"The Big Empty" - Lion's Gate Pictures - Starring Sean Bean, Jon Favreau

By:

Posted: 4/29/04

"The Big Empty" is a hard movie to classify. What starts off as a quirky character-driven film with great potential turns - in a heartbeat - into an enigmatic open-ended alien flick with philosophical overtones. The speck-on-the-radar independent film boasts an impressive collection of actors and stellar visuals that create an almost enjoyable film. The starkness of the desert is perfectly showcased by cinematographer Chris Manley.

The always funny Jon Favreau stars as John Person, a struggling actor who is slowly sinking under a mountain of debts. Instead of worrying about his financial situation, he spends his nights pondering which photograph would best sell him to potential directors. Person's financial problems are offered a reprieve when a mysterious neighbor (Bud Cort) offers Person enough money to erase his debts if he will simply take a blue briefcase into the middle of the desert to the small town of Baker, Calif. Cort plays the bizarre neighbor Neely with such oddness that viewers will be simultaneously repulsed and attracted to the squat little man. Neely and an unnamed group seem to know quite a lot about Person as Neely so carefully explains. Conversations such as this drive the first half of the movie as Person takes Neely up on his offer and makes his way to Baker to transfer the mysterious suitcase to an even more mysterious man named Cowboy.

While Person waits for Cowboy, he is introduced to the denizens of the small town in which he is now trapped. Daryl Hannah plays the town bartender, Stella, who must watch over her rowdy daughter, Ruthie.

Ruthie (Rachael Leigh Cook) is more interested in living life to the fullest, partaking in binge drinking and sleeping around. It's Ruthie's promiscuity that drives Randy (Adam Beach) wild. Randy hopes to marry Ruthie, and her constant flirting with Person drives him crazy. The real standout of the film is Jon Gries' portrayal of hotel manager Elron. Completely bonkers, Elron's subdued antics and dialogue will leave audiences anticipating his next appearance. Elron tells Person that a pornographic movie was filmed in his hotel room.

After Neely is found dead, an eccentric member of the cast is introduced with Kelsey Grammer's performance as FBI agent Banks. Banks is a slightly crazed investigator who stops at nothing to prove Person is tied to Neely's disappearance. With Sean Bean's Irish Cowboy, who is the mysterious leader behind a cult of track suit wearing wannabe alien abducts, the main cast of eccentrics is complete.

The character interactions in the first half of the movie showcase first-time director/writer Steve Anderson's knack for creating quirky and interesting characters that dominate the screen and intrigue the audience. Every line of dialogue contains quietly subdued hilarity.

With one scene, the movie's tune changes dramatically into a mix between a bad "Repo Man"/"X-Files" clone and "The Big Lebowski." Mixing bowling with an alien conspiracy, the movie's final plot borders on pretentious. Offering few answers and lacking initiative for audiences to create their own images, the film's final scene seems like a bad art house film created for the Sci-Fi Channel. With such a wonky mishmash of genres, it's easy for many potential viewers to be turned off. Clever dialogue and great acting will keep audiences watching, but the 'vague for vagueness sake' ending will leave audiences with an empty feeling as big as the desert the movie is set in.

The DVD comes with deleted scenes, including a plotline - featuring the excellent character actor Danny Trejo, a director's commentary, a making of featurette and a combination music video/picture gallery.