By: debbie lynn elias
Making a very auspicious debut at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival as part of the Narrative Competition, SAWDUST CITY easily makes my Must See List of Festival Films. A simple, well told character study, SAWDUST CITY compels interest in brother Bob and Pete who reunite over Thanksgiving week-end in Minnesota. As different as night and day, Bob is the good brother – the one that stayed in the area after graduation, got married, has a kid on the way, bought the American dream with the big American mortgage. Pete is the Black Sheep – with no focus, no direction, always wandering and never finishing anything he started. Pete left home years ago. At some point, though, he joined the Navy. Now, this holiday weekend, Pete calls Bob asking about their dad, Charlie. And it turns out Pete is home on a two day pass wanting to find Charlie. It seems there’s a lot of Charlie in Pete as like his wandering son, Charlie hasn’t been seen by Bob in over a year and Bob has no idea where to start the search. An alcoholic, Charlie went from bar to bar drinking, living in flop houses and living off SSI or SDI. As anxious as Pete is to find Dad and talk to him, Bob is equally as anxious to get out of the house and away from his mother-in-law and his wife’s friends, plus he wants to see his brother.
Starting at one bar, reconnecting with each other and asking questions about Charlie, Pete and Bob embark on their own emotional journey as they themselves go from bar to bar. With liquor loosening their tongues, we learn the details of their own estrangement, the jealousies between them, the missing pieces of each other’s lives. And while Bob and Pete try to build a common ground of brotherly love (and yes, the expected bar fight arises), they and us, learn about Charlie by way of stories told by Charlie’s drinking buddies.
Written and directed by David Nordstrom, who also stars as Bob, SAWDUST CITY is an intimate portrait of strangers. Told exclusively through conversations and interactions between Bob and Pete and the townsfolk they meet, you are drawn into the conversation and the dysfunctional relationships of the Church family. Characters are believable and true to life. As Bob, Nordstrom is engaging and interesting with a casual ease that is often laced with embarrassment when talking of or to his unseen wife. His facial nuance and physical expression fill the screen with resonating emotion and empathy.
Lensing is also simple using basic mid-shots with long shots utilized for scene establishment and shift. The cinematography has a smokey texture to it as does the grain of the film, giving the film a folksy, small town America look and feel. The bars are all dated with decor and construction reminiscent of the 60’s and 70’s, a time when Charlie was probably happy as a young father, before his divorce, before economic disasters; a time when Pete and Bob were the center of Dad’s universe. A very nice touch that adds to the sentiment of the film.
Filled with some twists and turns and a few interesting characters, SAWDUST CITY is a journey you don’t want to miss.
