By: debbie lynn elias
Let’s just cut to the chase. In short, PHIN is Phabulous! Patrick and Timothy Chapman, as director and writer, respectively, really do deliver brotherly love with solid, defining characters filled with heart and hilarity.
PHIN is one of the most endearing characters to come along in awhile. Idealistic, charismatic and creative, Phin suffered severe head trauma as the result of car accident some years back. In a coma for an extended period of time, he emerged with no memories of his life. Since then, he creates new memories based on the world around him. One minute he’s a bank robber making a cross country escape, the next a tuxedoed art dealer or the Season 4, er, Season 2, winner of Top Chef. In the next breath he’s a relationship doctor and the next, an undercover DEA agent. With each persona, he adopts accents, mannerisms and an elan that is almost enviable to the average person. And now he shows up in all his glory on his brother Sam’s Los Angeles doorstep days before Sam’s wedding, having driven himself cross-country in their mother’s car – from New Jersey.
Seeing the world through Phin’s eyes, we see and feel the truth, no matter what that truth may be. With Phin as the center of the wheel and the rest of the characters spokes on that wheel, everyone’s perceptions change as the film progresses and none more than art gallery owner, Carl. Robert Younis takes Carl from being a royal pain in the ass into a likeable and funny character who becomes intrigued with Phin – and by the time Carl plays into Phin’s delusion with the cops, he completely wins me over as a champion of Phin.
But let’s talk about PHIN himself. Eric Frentzel steals the show. Oh hell. He IS the show. Turning on a dime, his freneticism and conviction of character is palpable, making each interesting and resonating. You can’t help but adore not only Phin but Frentzel. Boundless in his energy and enthusiasm, his cadence and rhythmic delivery that changes minute to minute, character to character, his skill at mockingly perceived accents and his physical comedic ability makes me wonder – where they heck has Frentzel been hiding????? Why does this man not have a sitcom?
PHIN is all about performance and going hand-in-hand with Frentzel is Brandon Stacy who, as Phin’s brother Sam, a struggling artist, exudes warmth and heart from beginning to end, and yet, delivers some nuanced emotion, particularly when observing Frentzel’s Phin. There are moments the camera captures grins that just scream brotherly pride. You buy the brotherly relationship and never moreso than in a scene where Sam is telling Phin how much he needs his big brother of their youth back in his life. Heartbreaker!!! Unlikable to a fault are both Meredith Shank and Erin Elizabeth. As Sam’s fiancé Jackie and Carl’s assistant Susan, respectively, from start to finish you want both of them gone, particularly with Phin in the picture and the brotherly dynamic is clearly stronger than that between Sam and Jackie and Susan and, well, anybody.
Most appreciative is that the Chapmans and their story never pander down to Phin’s mental condition. It treats the injury itself and resulting mental difficulties with respect and care.
Exceptional is Vernon Rudolph’s cinematography, particularly with the flashbacks to Phin’s past. Color, “going into the light”, skewed angles. Metaphoric and telling, while going backwards propels the story forward. Shooting in confined spaces, Rudolph provides some interesting framing, enhanced by some wonderful bright light; again, almost metaphoric to Phin’s arrival and turning on the light in everyone’s life.
Icing on the cake is Sean McCann’s eclectic score which is top-notch, matching each of Phin’s equally eclectic personalities.
Every element of PHIN belies this being Patrick Chapman’s feature debut. Clearly, his background as an editor came into play providing judicious and varying use of mid and close-up shots, while pacing the film on an even keel of laughter.
PHIN is phun and phantastic!
Directed by Patrick Chapman
Written by Timothy Chapman
Cast: Eric Frentzel, Brandon Stacy, Robert Younis, Meredith Shank, Erin Elizabeth
