A company course on ruthless commercialism disguised as a slacker funny: Thats the kindest way to describe Michael Lehmanns Flakes, a film that shares the smug, hipper-than-thou sensibility of its sour protagonist, Neal Downs (Aaron Stanford).
An ambitious rock artist who handles a New Orleans eatery where the only bill of fare is breakfast cereal, Neal is a reflexively sarcastic deadbeat whose similarly sour girlfriend, Pussy Katz (Zooey Deschanel), shares his bohemian dream of taking a trip the country in an Airstream trailer, making music and art.
The walls of the dining establishment, called Flakes, are lined with cereal boxes, consisting of rare discontinued brand names. As consumers slop up exotic mixes, the movie suggests a deadpan http://daltonbejg050.image-perth.org/the-biggest-trends-in-quine-we-ve-seen-this-year spoof of premium fetishism. One house specialized chocolate-flavored grains soaked in chocolate milk sounds particularly nauseating.
Owned by Willie (Christopher Lloyd), a shabby hippie geezer with mad-scientist hair, Flakes limps along as a hangout for deadbeats until a bright-eyed nouveau riche visitor, Stuart (Keir ODonnell), proposes turning it into a lucrative franchise. When Willie and Neal express no interest, Stuart establishes a competing Flakes throughout the street, and the New Orleans cereal wars begin.
Wishing to put Stuart out of company, Neal starts playing filthy techniques, the nastiest of which is the distribution of fliers to the homeless promising 10 free bowls per consumer at his competitors facility. The prank sets off a near-riot that Stuart skillfully relies on his benefit.
Neals brand-new live-in relationship with Pussy starts to curdle when she turns traitor and goes to work for the competitors, hoping that the death of the original Flakes will leave Neal with time to complete his CD. If the name of his band, Cereal Killers, is completely picked, its music is a joke.
As soon as legal representatives end up being involved in the dispute, the films anti-establishment attitude vaporizes, as does the tiny little bit of levity Flakes has actually created.
FLAKES
Opens on Wednesday in Manhattan; likewise on Video as needed.
Directed by Michael Lehmann; composed by Chris Poche and Karey Kirkpatrick; director of photography, Nancy Schreiber; modified by Nicholas C. Smith; music by Jason Derlatka and Jon Ehrlich; produced by Gary Winick and Jake Abraham; released by IFC First Take. At the IFC Center, 323 Opportunity of the Americas, at Third Street, Greenwich Village. Running time: 1 hour 24 minutes. This movie is not ranked.
WITH: Aaron Stanford (Neal Downs), Zooey Deschanel (Miss Pussy Katz), Christopher Lloyd (Willie), Frank Wood (Bruce), Ryan Donowho (Skinny Larry), Izabella Miko (Strawberry) and Keir ODonnell (Stuart).