‘I Don’t Feel at Home’ Review: Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood Kick Butt
Macon Blair’s bloody black comedy gives Lynskey a rare chance to be tough, not tender
Steve Pond | February 28, 2017 @ 7:00 AM
Last Updated: February 28, 2017 @ 7:07 AM
AWARDS BEAT
Courtesy of the Sundance Institute
At this point, bloody black crime comedies in which escalating gore turns to slapstick are pretty much an indie genre all their own, descended from Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie and populated with sketchy losers whose misadventures land them in increasing trouble until most of them are dead and nobody — including the audience — survives unscathed or unpunished.
Those films can be messy and sick and ridiculous — and also, if they’re done right, a lot of fun. And on opening night at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, Macon Blair did it right with “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore,” which takes its title from a Carter Family lament but its sensibility from far grislier sources, including Blair’s longtime collaborator Jeremy Saulnier (“Green Room,” “Blue Ruin”).
This is the movie to see if you want to see the great Melanie Lynskey bleed ‘n’ barf — and really, given the unpredictable charm and sensitivity she’s shown since she and Kate Winslet came out of obscurity to star in Peter Jackson’s “Heavenly Creatures,” who wouldn’t want to see that?
I don’t really mean to be dismissive with that comment, either. Lynskey usually plays the wallflower, the troubled girl, the housewife whose husband cheats on her (in the recently-departed HBO show “Togetherness”). She seems to be playing another of those typical roles in the first part of the film; she’s Ruth, a kind, timid woman who lives alone and is annoyed by the jerks who surround her in the neighborhood, the market, the bar, the roads …
But when her house is broken into and a thief gets away with her laptop, her medication and her grandmother’s silver service, something snaps and Lynskey, for once, gets to kick butt. She teams up with Tony, a tiny, weird neighbor played by Elijah Wood as a socially awkward waif who hides his ineptness with heavy metal music and martial arts training. And together, well, they get into a whole lot of trouble.
The details are less important than the glee with which Blair twists the genre and whips up a concoction that gets increasingly weird, violent and over-the-top, and the equal glee with which his unusual stars Lynskey and Wood inhabit their glorious misfits on a rampage, albeit a rampage to right some wrongs.
“I Don’t Feel at Home … ,” which is coming to Netflix in February, gets silly, but it’s supposed to. It goes on too long, but that’s kind of the point. It escalates past the point of absurdity, but all you can do as an audience member is shake your head and laugh.
Actually, the opening-night audience at the Eccles Theatre did more than that. They screamed and hollered when it was over, a reception only partly due to the fact that it felt as if most of the cast and crew was in the house.
In the post-screening Q&A, Lynskey talked about how the action-packed roles usually go to skinnier girls, and said the film was so much fun to make that she not only cried on the last day of shooting, but for the five days leading up to that. And while this spirited genre exercise isn’t likely to bring many others to tears, it’s good, sick fun.
14 Hottest Sundance Movies for Sale: From Degenerate Nuns to Sexting Angelenos (Photos)
Park City, Utah, is about to be flush with cash -- and we're not talking about buying apres-ski gear. Here are the most promising sales titles of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
"Brigsby Bear" Kyle Mooney ("SNL") leads an impressive ensemble in what seems to be a millennial take on "The Truman Show." The title refers to a children's TV show made for an audience of one -- a boy named James, whose life changes after the show's abrupt end. Dave McCary directs from a script by Mooney and Kevin Costello. Claire Danes, Mark Hamill, Greg Kinnear and Michaela Watkins co-star.
"The Big Sick" Socially relevant fare that's based on a true story is often a winning combination for Sundance features. "Silicon Valley" star Kumail Nanjiani and girlfriend Emily V. Gordon wrote this true tale of bridging cultural divides among their families while navigating their careers and romance.
"Beach Rats" Multiple programmers, sales agents and content buyers told TheWrap they're all keen to see this thoroughly modern drama from Eliza Hittman. The movie stars Harris Dickinson as a Brooklyn teen with a grim home life, a budding romance with a female friend and a predilection for meeting up with older men he connects with online.
"A Ghost Story" David Lowery reunites with his "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" stars Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck for a chamber drama about a man who dies, and is forced to watch his loved one grieve over expanses of time.
"The Hero" Sam Elliott stars as an aging country legend confronting his demons (territory that netted Jeff Bridges an Oscar in 2010 for “Crazy Heart”). The film also stars "Orange Is the New Black" star Laura Prepon, which may make it hard for Netflix to resist scooping it up.
"Roxanne, Roxanne" As he keeps chugging along the road to the Academy Awards, "Moonlight" star Mahershala Ali comes to Park City with "Roxanne, Roxanne" -- the story of Lolita "Roxanne Shanté" Gooden, who became a fierce rap battle queen at age 14. Chante Adams stars in this real-life story from writer-director Michael Larnell.
"The Yellow Birds" Alexander Moors ("Blue Caprice") offers up this tale of young Iraq war veterans, which boasts hot up-and-coming stars Alden Ehrenreich (the new Han Solo) and Tye Sheridan. The tale unfolds as a mystery, with a fallen hero's mother (Jennifer Aniston) and a tough-as-nails military official (Jason Patric) searching for answers in a young man's death.
"Step" One of numerous hot docs in Park City, Amanda Lipitz’s opus follows a team of step dancers in Baltimore — an inspiring group of inner-city girls living in the midst of social unrest.
"To the Bone" Marti Noxon, a longtime symbol of female empowerment in TV for her work on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "UnREAL," makes her feature directorial debut with a pitch-black comedy about her own struggle with anorexia. The film stars Lily Collins and Keanu Reeves.
"Landline" Director Gillian Robespierre reunites with her "Obvious Child" star Jenny Slate for a tale of lying, cheating and Manhattanite family bonds. Slate produces; Edie Falco, John Turturro, Finn Wittrock and Jay Duplass co-star.
"The Polka King" Jack Black descends on Utah with a meaty role as a Bernie Madoff for the indie music scene. In Maya Forbes’ indie Black plays Polish immigrant Jan Lewan — who became the “King of Pennsylvania Polka” in the 1990s, bribing and cheating investors along the way.
"The Little Hours" Director Jeff Baena continues to surprise, this time with a quiet riot of a film about extremely misbehaving nuns in an Italian hamlet. Reunited with his real-life girlfriend and star Aubrey Plaza ("Life After Beth") and producer Liz Destro, "Little Hours" sees a medieval convent go insane after a sexy day laborer (Dave Franco) moves in.
"Golden Exits" Director Alex Ross Perry and star Emily Browning help bring two infighting New York families together. A prototypical indie drama with pedigree, it co-stars Mary-Louise Parker, Lily Rabe, Jason Schwartzman, Chloe Sevigny, Adam Horowitz and Analeigh Tipton.
"Newness" Drake Doremus ("Like Crazy") returns to Sundance with another drama about young romance. This time, his "Equals" star Nicholas Hoult and newcomer Laia Costa play a contemporary L.A. couple navigating "a social media-driven hookup culture," whose relationship pushes multiple boundaries.
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Streaming companies and indie distributors will battle it out for these movies
Park City, Utah, is about to be flush with cash -- and we're not talking about buying apres-ski gear. Here are the most promising sales titles of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
