The Buffalo Bills hadn't made the playoffs since a couple of years this movie was released. And then 17 years later, they made it again (thanks to my Cincinnati Bengals).
The fictional story is of Billy (Vincent Gallo), a loser who was just freed from prison on his way to assassinate the man he believes sent him on a spiral to his loser-dom, the kicker of the Buffalo Bills (named Scott Wood...though suppose to be Scott Norwood). Along the way, he drags, Layla (Christina Ricci) a random girl from a dance studio to pretend he's his wife.
On the surface, Billy is just a wet raggedy vicious dog that needs to be put down. Deep down, he's an injured man who was at the misery of his surroundings. He is the voice of a shade above barely a pulse. He's miserable and angry, with very little reason, considering the woman he kidnaps is someone who thinks more about him than he thinks of himself. Which is where you either go with the flow or are painfully annoyed by him. This is the tone that I think dark comedies attempt to be. Heavily stylized and brutally honest, the people in his life are very familiar (Rosanna Arquette, Jan Michael-Vincent, Ben Gazzara, Angelica Huston, Mickey Rourke). But they only exist to aggravate his already fringe existence. Let's be clear...he is NOT the victim. Directed by Gallo himself, he understands the character of Billy is delusional about his options in life. Both good or bad. And his defense mechanism is to make others hate him before they disappoint him (that happens a lot out here in L.A.). Whereas he can't even accept kindness when it slaps him in the face.
I recall watching this movie in the tundra of Northwest Ohio and just...mesmerized by it. Though at the time I wasn't sure why. But it has been the basis of a lot of the characters I'm desperate to write. I think Gallo has nailed it so succinctly in this revisit, I can honestly say...there is no better and I can rest comfortably now knowing this.
It's a hard film to watch, but it is high art.
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