I’ve had this one on my list for a while because 1) Rosanna Arquette cameo and 2) Vincent Gallo’s real life insanity and non-stop provocations. Expectations exceeded! 

It’s a beautiful story about a heart “opening shop,” again (if I may use a metaphor) as Billy escapes prison only to enter back into society still chained to his incredibly toxic, explosive, and prohibitive frame of mind. We then see, through some beautifully painful but brilliantly acted sequences featuring Cassa-veteran Ben Gazzara and Anjelica Huston, where Billy started to recluse and become so incredibly defensive against every little emotion and paranoid that everyone was out to use him, or fail him. 

Christina Ricci is brilliant as well as this, and her performance in the first act kept giving me glimpses of Giuletta Masina in Fellini’s classic, La Strada, as her docile tenderness provides a stark contrast for Gallo’s abundant outbursts of violence and cruelty. Really, there’s not a performance wasted here in this one.  

Nor is there a shot wasted as the legendary Lance Acord, frequent collaborator with Spike Jonze and Sofia Coppola, as the film’s visuals drip with style and it’s use of long shots and staging frames where characters can suddenly enter or perspectives change in a way that really mirrors the emotional impact of face to face conversations and the subconscious text of the dialogue of each scene. This, in large part, is also thanks to a creative approach in the editing of the film. 

Sure, it kinda slows down but even the slower sections are elevated with fantastic filmmaking and dramatic performances. See this one today and have some fun googling Gallo after (or before) you’re done.