Just as independent cinema
devolves into a string of cutesy quirk-fests containing no recognizable human
behavior, along comes Todd Rohal's debut feature The Guatemalan Handshake, to serve as a crucible rather
than an alternative. Viewers will either walk away from the film thinking that
Rohal has set a new benchmark for how obnoxiously twee movies can get, or
they'll see Rohal's goofy flights of imagination as proof that most modern
indies aren't quirky enough.
Eschewing restraint, Rohal
fills The Guatemalan Handshake with small-town naïfs in shabby clothes, living
in the shadow of a nuclear power plant, where they obsess over pet turtles,
electric cars, and demolition derbies. Will Oldham plays a lumpen, mumbly
outsider who disappears one day after a power outage, and when his friends and
family ask around about him, they get embroiled in a variety of strange
occurrences. A woman reads her obituary in the paper, then attends her own
funeral. The grubby, unemployable town lothario goes on a series of dates that
usually end with him shirtless, nauseous, or both. And the tiny, triangular
electric car Oldham borrowed from his dad passes from person to person, never
quite fitting anyone's lifestyle.
It's pointless to get
upset about Rohal's vision of small-town America as one big asylum for horribly
unfashionable dolts, because The Guatemalan Handshake isn't about any genuine
place or type. It takes place in the same grotesque dream world where
filmmakers like Harmony Korine and David Lynch have set up shop, although
Rohal's take on nightmarish Americana isn't as pretentious or oblique, which
isn't necessarily a good thing. Rohal aims for surprised laughter more than
mind-bending weirdness, and while he doesn't hit the bull's-eye that often, he
keeps firing, loading up a new visual gag or outlandish scenario every few
minutes. He's clearly got ideas to spare, and one day, he may turn them into
something magical. The Guatemalan Handshake, though, is more like the
snack one of its characters eats: a chocolate bunny, filled with chocolate
milk, topped with chocolate syrup.
Key features: A laid-back Rohal/cast/crew commentary and
a couple of hours' worth of offbeat behind-the-scenes home movies that will
either make Rohal and company seem all the more endearing, or all the more
irritating.