Sawdust City – 2011 LAFF

It’s not surprising that AT&T users complain about their cell phone service: as I sat waiting for Sawdust City to start, I saw at least seven iPhones well within my reach. Everyone killing time on Facebook… or texting… or playing backgammon. The only voice to be heard despite it being quiet in Regal Cinemas Theater 9 was one man describing the film – to his companion who had no idea what it was about – as being “mumblecore.” That only served to have him then try to explain what “mumblecore” was, which I don’t think helped clear anything up in her mind, leaving her to just sit back and find out.

After watching writer/director/CalArts alum David Nordstrom’s debut feature shot in his hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin on a shoe-string budget, it turns out that the loud man in the theater was right. Had this debuted in film festivals about five years ago, I’m sure it’d be heralded as an important new entry in the world of independent filmmaking. As it stands now, though, coming out in 2011, even those who were at the helm when mumblecore hit the mainstream earlier last decade are doing more standard, mainstream fare – see: the Duplass Brothers’ Cyrus and The League. Perhaps that opens the door for new filmmakers like Nordstrom. Or perhaps it’s all just been done before.

Sawdust City tells the story of two brothers, who haven’t seen each other in years, as they bounce from dive-bar watering hole to dive-bar watering hole looking for their estranged father on Thanksgiving Day. Nordstrom is fantastic as the older brother, Bob, who still lives in Eau Claire and is expecting a baby with his wife while remaining unemployed due to the bad economy. Given how many responsibilities he must’ve had being the director and writer, it’s a testament to his talent that he was able to do so well in front of the camera, maintaining a consistent performance throughout the course of this on-screen day where he gets progressively drunker as they go from bar to bar. He must’ve been keenly aware of where each scene fit into the scheme of the film and made sure that his level of inebriation was appropriate throughout. This is key especially since it’s his character that brings about the film’s emotional climax. Had his performance been all over the place, going from belligerent to rationale from scene to scene, it would’ve lacked the necessary punch.

The same can’t quite be said for Carl McLaughlin, who plays Pete, the brother who has spent the past two years joining the Navy. He’s likeable, and we definitely relate to him in the beginning: he just wants to find his dad. But, McLaughlin doesn’t have much range. If the movie had been just the two of them walking around and talking for 90 minutes, Sawdust City could’ve become insufferable. Thankfully, Nordstrom introduces us to Gene, played delightfully by Lee Lynch, a loveable loser who mooches off everyone as much as possible and doesn’t shut up. When he says that he knows Charlie – their father – he joins their little odyssey across town in search of the elusive drunkard, which keeps things interesting and entertaining. Gene is the necessary catalyst to push the brothers together, to get them talking even if it’s not about the things they need to be talking about, because it ends up meaning that they will get to that necessary conversation eventually. Plus, Lynch just steals about every scene he’s in, effortlessly embodying that guy who annoys you more than not but you just pity him too much – and he makes you laugh just often enough – to get all that angry about it.

Once Gene shows up, the movie moves along. While the whole narrative structure of watching these characters go from bar to bar starts off a bit tedious – why couldn’t they just call around to all the bars and ask if Charlie was there? – it ends up lulling us into submission, the monotony giving way to a comforting rhythm, where we, like the brothers, don’t end up holding out any hope for actually finding their father, we’re just enjoying the journey – and maybe learning something along the way.