Walrus Yes or Walrus No?

Tusk

I've been a Kevin Smith fan for a long time now and as he's gotten older, his message has changed and he's become a champion of creativity more than anything else. His message is that if you just do something, take a step into what you want to do, you will get it. It's the constant drum of the world to keep creative people down and make them feel ashamed of their talent. As though if you can't write the great American novel or the next Citizen Kane (which I still see as a good not great film), your voice is meaningless. Kevin has broken that down. After a few missteps, the underrated but critically lambasted Jersey Girl and Cop Out (which was basically as it's title implied) he's come back with a some might say better than the original Clerks 2 and the under seen Red State (check that out on Netflix if you've ever wanted a realistically evil view of the Westboro Baptist Church.) On Friday, Kevin Smith gave us Tusk, a deranged tale from the great white north. 

What started as a Podcast on Kevin's Smodcast network (if you haven't checked them out I would recommend them greatly) which is alluded to throughout tusk. Fans of the podcasts will see the inside jokes and non fans won't feel as though they are not let in on the joke. The story is based off of a news story (truth or fiction I know not) about a man in Canada offering free room and board and the promise of great stories and tales of the adventures he's been on in his long life. The only caveat is that the man would have to dress for an hour a day as a walrus and speak in walrus tones. What those are, I do not know. It captured the imagination and from it came a tale of a Los Angeles Podcaster ( Justin Long) who for his podcast travels to Canada to seek out a weird tale to bring home with him. He happens across a flyer in the bathroom of a Canadian bar which offers him the exact opportunity he is looking for. Driving two hours at night he arrives at the home of Howard Howe, an eccentric old man who over glasses of tea, tells of meeting Ernest Hemingway and the story of the best friend he ever found, a walrus who saved him from a shipwreck named Mr. Tusk. As you may guess, not all is right in the land of Manitoba. If you've heard about the movie, you may know the outcome. For those of you who have been left in the dark, I'd only say that what occurs is disturbing and undoubtedly odd. 

What makes this and all Kevin Smith movies good, are that there is an underlying level of humor underneath it all. Funny moments, quirky characters, and people from Kevin's life pop up throughout. Look for Kevin's wife, his daughter and the daughter of Johnny Depp to show up. Also a surprising cameo from Canadian legend Guy LaPointe. I'd also like to welcome back Haley Joel Osment ( the kid with the dead people seeing) who is strong as Long's partner in podcastery. The promise of his youth has become the talent of his adulthood. Genesis Rodriguez offers just the right amount of scared girlfriend/ guilty partner desperately searching for Justin Long's Wallace.  Not to mention she is not hard to look at. It is Justin Long and Michael Parks that make the movie. The long terrifying takes of Michael Parks telling stories to Long's Wallace provide the right amount of depth and character to scare you simply with his voice. It is a wavy tittering tone that gets to your bones. Justin Long, while not having a lot of dialogue in the latter half of the movie, remains just as captivating as he watches his life unravel and brings a tear to your eye as you see his quiet desperation. To take a talented talker like Long and take away his voice is a bold choice that pays of big.

This is part one of a planned trilogy continuing with the same cast of characters in different roles. Yoga Hosers (starring Harley Quinn Smith and Lily Rose Depp as their convenience store clerk characters from Tusk) is filming right now and Smith will end with Moose Jaws (which is basically Jaws except with a moose). All the same actors will be in the next two movies much the way American Horror Story recycles the actors into new stories season after season. Given the promise and likability of this cast, I can hardly wait to see where it goes. Indeed Smith, who loves Star Wars and Batman, has created a new universe worth watching. I wonder if when his tales are all told if we will look at him with a new reverence as a film maker or just a guy who made us laugh with dick and fart jokes.  I'm sure to Kevin Smith, he won't care one way or another. It's all about creating and doing the stories he wants to do. He's been an inspiration to me, giving me the thought of doing this blog (of which I do sparsely and inconsistently.) 

 

Tusk as a stand alone film, is an awesome movie, less disgusting than The Human Centipede but in the same arena. Walking out of the theater, I chuckled and shook my head at the genius of this movie. It can make you laugh, cry and be completely disturbed. Michael Parks deserves recognition for playing such demanding psychotic characters. But it is Kevin Smith, who retired from film making a few years ago due in part to the lack of creativity and enjoyment in making movies. He's come back with Red State and now with Tusk he has proven that you do not need the Hollywood system to make a great movie, you just need to sit around with your friends, talk a little bit and then use your own sick disturbed mind. 

Mr. Unhappy sez: If you are a fan of Kevin Smith or just want to see some disturbing and funny shit...Tusk is your movie. As Wallace says desperately into his phone... "I don't want to die in Canada."  #Walrusyes