Jake Goldberger’s film is a dizzying affair that builds toward an overwhelming onslaught of twists. From the get-go, it’s glaringly evident that this first-time writer/director has little hope of sorting through his self-imposed chaos.
Rather, the task of talking the flick down from the ledge falls on eponymous lead Thomas Haden Church (no doubt facing added pressure as executive producer). And he salvages the film and our sanity in his role as a downtrodden janitor who returns to his home town after 25 years away to care for his high-school sweetheart (Elisabeth Shue), who he’s been told is dying.
The plot unfolds like a numbed-down neo-noir, and the actors treat it as such, using overwrought dramatic turns as a springboard for delightfully hammy performances. Church looks terminally glazed over from a slippery, unpronounced past; Shue plays a manic damsel in distress. Both teeter on the entertaining side of absurdity.
