You’ll never see a better cautionary tale, concerning the wisdom of seat belts.
Charlie Huston’s 2004 crime novel is a slight change of pace for director Darren Aronofsky, whose best-known films — Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan and The Whale — haven’t the slightest trace of humor. But Huston’s scripted adaptation of his book is laden with moments of dark-dark-dark gallows humor, of the sort that makes one feel guilty for each chuckle (not that it’ll suppress the next unexpected giggle).
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| The enemy of my enemy is my friend? When Hank (Austin Butler, center) becomes sufficiently desperate, he forms an uneasy alliance with Lipa (Liev Schreiber, left) and Shmully (Vincent D'Onofrio). |
The year is 1998, the setting New York City’s Lower East Side: a time when this neighborhood is at low ebb, with sidewalks and streets strewn with uncollected garbage. Henry “Hank” Thompson (Austin Butler) tends bar at a sorta-kinda dive run by Paul (Griffin Dunne). Amtrak (Action Bronson), a steady customer, constantly ribs Hank about his devotion to the San Francisco Giants. Indeed, Hank calls his mother every day — she lives in Patterson, California — to commiserate or cheer about their mutual passion for the baseball team.
Hank has a steady girlfriend, Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz), who works at a nearby hospital.
But Hank is damaged goods. He suffers nightmare flashbacks of the vehicular accident, at the tail end of high school, which wrecked his knee, blew his chance at a promising baseball career, and killed his best friend. Hank was entirely at fault, driving drunk. He wore a seat belt; his friend did not.
Hank now is a full-blown alcoholic, much to Yvonne’s distress. She wants them to “move to the next level,” but only if Hank can get a handle on his drinking problem.
On an otherwise average day, Hank’s rowdy punk neighbor, Russ (Matt Smith, most famously of Doctor Who and The Crown), is summoned to London to see his dying father one last time. He abruptly places his cat, Bud, in Hank’s reluctant care.
“He’s a biter,” Russ warns, as he sprints away.
Yvonne thinks caring for Bud is a marvelous idea; she even moves the cat’s litter box into Hank’s bathroom … much to his disgust. But it’s obvious, even in these early moments, that Hank and Bud will bond.
Yvonne heads to work. Moments later, two thugs show up, searching for Russ. Hank unwisely displays attitude, and gets beaten so badly that he wakens in a hospital, two days later, having lost a kidney. Yvonne warns that now — with only one kidney — he really, truly must stop drinking.
That will be a challenge.
Hank wisely contacts the police, and is interviewed by narcotics detective Elise Roman (Regina King). Based on his description, she immediately identifies his attackers as Russian mobsters Aleksei (Yuri Kolokolnikov) and Pavel (Nikita Kukushkin), affiliated with Puerto Rican bad guy Colorado (Benito Martinez Ocasio). She further adds that Russ is a drug dealer connected to the “scary dangerous” Hasidic Drucker brothers, Lipa (Liev Schreiber) and Shmully (Vincent D’Onofrio).
“You don’t ever want to meet them,” she warns.
(Which guarantees that he will.)
Hank returns home, and discovers that his apartment has been tossed; worse yet, Bud has been slightly injured.
The subsequent mayhem, skirmishes, chases and (forgive me) cat-and-mouse maneuvers revolve around the big question: What, precisely, are all the bad guys after? Staying alive becomes the least of Hank’s worries; he’s more concerned about retaining all of his limbs.
He also gets annoyed by the way Bud repeatedly gets used as a bargaining chip.
The genuinely nasty violence is interlaced with unexpected bursts of humor and oddly macabre interludes. George Abud is a hoot as Hank and Russ’ nerdy neighbor, Duane, who keeps complaining about the noise and disruptions. As the story enters its climactic third act, the skirmishes briefly pause when Hank — accompanied by Lipa and Shmully — winds up at an ultra-orthodox Shabbat dinner hosted by their mother, Bubbe (Carol Kane, no less).
Aronofsky and editor Andrew Weisblum choreograph all this mayhem like gleeful puppeteers, delighted by their ability to disorient viewers and confound expectations. Huston’s story has plenty of twists (although one hiccup isn’t much of a surprise).
Butler is terrific as the beleaguered Hank: at first totally out of his depth, but quickly forced to think, scramble and even devise some counter-moves. But — and this is important — he never becomes more than a regular guy, still screwed up inside.
Kravitz’s Yvonne is earthy, caring and intelligent: wise enough to recognize that Hank might not be capable of long-term good behavior.
King is persuasive as a narcotics investigator sufficiently seasoned to distrust Hank on sight, assuming that he must somehow be involved. Kolokolnikov and Kukushkin are flat-out terrifying as the Russian goons, while Schreiber and D’Onofrio make Lipa and Shmully seem gentle and devout on the surface … which makes them even more menacing.
Action sequences are deftly choreographed to a veritable jukebox of well-placed punk, rock and metal anthems. Rob Simonsen’s rowdy score, when the songs give it a chance to be heard, is performed by the punk-rock group Idles.
This vicious flick definitely isn’t for the faint of heart, but folks with a fondness for warped thrillers will find it exhilarating. Most of the time. (Book fans may be intrigued to learn that Huston subsequently featured Hank Thompson in 2005’s Six Bad Things and 2006’s A Dangerous Man.)
And do linger for the end credits, which include a droll animated touch.
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