A quirkily oddball film with a muddled plot
Chuck Klosterman’s 2008 novel, on which this movie is based, tells the story of three unhappy people whose lives intersect as they go about their business in the fictional town of Owl, North Dakota.
This premise translates to the film but whereas the novel provided a lot of room for character depth over its 300+ pages, what we see on screen is an abbreviated version of Klosterman’s story that has been condensed into a short running time of just over 90 minutes.
The brevity of the film’s storytelling does Klosterman’s work a disservice as we are never able to get under the skin of the characters he created for the page. As a consequence, we never get to understand their backstories, their motivations, or their personalities, which is a problem for a movie that hinges on the relationships we are supposed to form with them. When we get to the point in the film when they form profound realizations about their lives, it’s this detachment that makes it hard for us to decipher what it is they are starting to comprehend.
The main character in the film is Julia (Lily Rabe) who arrives at the town of Owl to take up a teaching position. She seems to be escaping her life back home and the husband to whom she is unhappily married.
During Julia’s first few days in the town, she meets some of the oddball residents, including Naomi (Vanessa Hudgens), a teacher at the school who gives her a lesson on how to get free drinks from the amorous men at a local bar.
Julia also meets Coach Lawten (Finn Wittrock), the school’s gym teacher, who is called a “sex criminal” by one character because of the way he letches over the female students.
Other residents of the town include an elderly man named Horace (Ed Harris), who befriends Julia and introduces her to his wife, who is in a vegetative state following an insomnia-related illness. Horace becomes an important part of the story, as does Mitch (August Blanco Rosenstein), a high school student with aspirations of excelling on the school football field, even though he hates playing the game.
After settling into the town, Julia becomes enamoured by a local stud named Vance (Henry Golding), who was a star football player in his day and became popular with the community as a consequence. The two of them attempt to get into a relationship but due to their respective hang-ups, it’s not easy for them to become intimate.
These are just a few of the folks we meet over the course of the film but it’s Julia, Horace, and Mitch that we spend the most time with. Towards the end of the film, there’s a sudden blizzard, and they each get trapped in the snow. It’s here that the filmmakers aim for greater significance as each character is forced to reckon with the ways in which they are “stuck” in their respective lives. But as I alluded to earlier, these scenes aren’t as profound as they could have been because their backstories haven’t been properly fleshed out.
In Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 film Magnolia, the main characters were forced into a standstill because of a hurricane that caused hundreds of frogs to fall from the sky. This strange occurrence made each character “wake up” from their ordered lives and allowed them to get perspective on their various life problems. It was also the catalyst for them to break the fourth wall and sing along to Aimee Mann’s song “Wake Up” in tandem.
That was a brilliant scene in a brilliant film that had an impact because the extended running time meant we had plenty of understanding about these characters. Linklater and Rabe seemingly try to replicate that scene in Downtown Owl, with the blizzard that strands the central trio. These characters also break the fourth wall and talk directly to the camera, in a scene that evokes Magnolia’s singing scene.
But not only are we in the dark about who these characters really are, but we are also left baffled by what they say, as their conversation with the camera makes very little sense. So while they seem to be making a psychological breakthrough at this point in the film, it’s hard for us to understand what they’re experiencing.
There are a few bright moments in Downtown Owl thanks to the quirky sense of humour which is exemplified by the eccentric collection of characters. But it’s ultimately a frustrating watch, thanks to the confused narrative, undernourished characterizations, and story threads that end in an unsatisfying way.
As a miniseries, this might have worked better, as a longer runtime would have given us room to get to know each character. But as a film, we are left with a muddled mess that fails to do justice to the original source material.
Read More: Downtown Owl – Ending Explained
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Verdict - 5.5/10
5.5/10