SXSW 2016: “In a Valley of Violence,” “Keanu,” “War on Everyone”

The 2016 South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas kicked things off with a much-publicized appearance by President Obama speaking about the future of the fest’s interactive entrepreneurs and how technology can be used to further our country’s way of life. The President did not stick around to catch more than the local tacos that the city’s expansive fest has to offer. That’s too bad, since some of the titles offered on the film side of the music & movies program this year cut close to the current political scene. But if there was ever a place to escape the too-nutty-for-fiction facts about who may be taking over the President’s job in January, it is certainly in the warm embrace of this film lover’s paradise.

Slow burn horror master Ti West (“The Innkeepers,” “The Sacrament”) premiered “In A Valley of Violence” [pictured above] this weekend, and, surprise, it’s not a horror film at all. It is a western starring Ethan Hawke as a thirsty drifter, accompanied by his trusty, self-reliant dog. When a confrontation goes in Hawke’s favor, he is targeted by a gang of dimwitted followers and thrust into a quest for revenge. The comparisons to Keanu Reeves’ “John Wick” are inescapable (a film which owed a great deal to “Road to Perdition” itself.) But many modern action films draw their style from the western genre, so it’s only fair to watch it go the other way. West has fun with the “tough guy” archetype here, even bringing in John Travolta as a wannabe peacekeeper who finds himself just as much over his head. Employing knowing winks to the spaghetti westerns, West continues to be a smart filmmaker, having fun making movies that go from quiet calm to bloody mayhem.

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele have been two of the freshest sketch comedians on television in the past decade. After ending their stint on Comedy Central, they are now poised to make their mark on the big screen. Their first film effort, “Keanu" [pictured above], was co-written by Peele, who also stars as a lonely guy going through a bad break-up whose life is reenergized when a tiny kitten appears at his doorstep. Adorably cute even by the cutest of kitten standards, the newly-named Keanu was once the property of a ruthless drug dealer. When the cat goes missing, he teams up with his best friend (Key) to infiltrate the drug ring and pose as tough guys until Keanu is his again. 

While the film starts off with a lot of energy and even a noticeable emotional undercurrent in the newly formed pet relationship, it becomes clear that even these fresh comic minds are not immune to the trap that is a skit pushed well past its expiration. By the 18^th George Michael joke and racially-charged ruse that begins to feel like you are watching Pryor & Wilder’s entrance into the jail in “Stir Crazy” on repeat, “Keanu” has already worn out its welcome before it shifts into an excessively violent climax. A couple of inspired cameo appearances help break the monotony, but even serious fans should hope that this one-note effort gives way to greater inspiration in their next effort.

Writer/director Sophie Goodhart’s “My Blind Brother” [pictured above] belongs to a string of recent indies featuring a mix-and-match combo of fellow comedians—“Adult Beginners,” “Obvious Child,” “The Overnight,” Sundance 2016 hit “Joshy,” TV’s “Parks and Recreation” and HBO’s animated “Animals” helped familiarize the names of Nick Kroll, Jenny Slate and Adam Scott. Many of them are amiable stories of arrested development with lead characters trying to break out of a funk, putting their slacker life into order or falling in love. This indie comedy subgenre of personal growth makes “My Blind Brother” all the more familiar, but thanks to its strong cast and attempts to bridge the second and third dimensions of these stereotypes, it actually finds way to break out of that familiarity. 

Kroll plays the guide dog brother of Scott’s visually impaired and self-involved overachiever. When he unknowingly takes on his brother’s one-night stand (Slate) as his assistant and eventual girlfriend, the less assertive Kroll begins a power struggle to win back the emotionally-stunted Slate, still reeling from a tragic breakup of her own. 

The screenplay doesn’t take a lot of risks with the material but it begins to pop thanks to Kroll and Slate giving their all to make their characters into adults rather than rom-com pawns. The always-reliable Scott pushes the film to a darker edge by not painting the impaired community as saints who have to be coddled. It could have used a bit more of that as Scott mostly comes off as a jerk throughout (although not entirely without cause), but the film coasts nicely on the backs of Kroll and Slate and some genuinely hysterical moments.

In a festival known for wild narratives, it’s surprising to see John Michael McDonagh (the writer/director of “The Guard” and “Calvary”) deliver the nuttiest film I’ve seen in this year’s program (at least of the non-animated variety.) “War On Everyone” [pictured above] is a hybrid of ‘70s TV cop shows infused with the Shane Black/buddy interplay of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s while wading around in an almost indecipherable Elmore Leonard crime plot. 

Michael Peña and Alexander Skarsgård play two detectives who burned the rule book a long time ago, now trying to come out rich on the other side of a racetrack heist. When the gambit goes off the rails and they are thrust into solving the case (and reclaiming their payout) it leads them into an international crime syndicate that gets darker the further they go down the rabbit hole.