WINNING HANDILY:
HIFF SPRING PREVIEW-SHOW OF HANDS
by Albert Lanier
"It's all about the footwear" one man tells a group of people clustered around an SUV. This man talks as if he knows some kind of secret, some kind of advantage that enables a smart and savvy participant to win a contest.
The contest this individual has in mind is not a track and field event not any other kind of sporting event but a 5 day event to win a Land Rover SUV. More than a couple of dozen participants have sprawled around a dealership in a small city in New Zealand on the first day of the contest by the 4th day, there will be seven participants left then as the hours progress, 3 remain until finally a winner is left standing and pressing a hand to the wind of a silver Land Rover.
That's the basic story and plot development of the new film SHOW OF HANDS which served as the preview screening for this year's Hawaii International Film Festival on Monday, September 29 in Honolulu. The film was screened to members of the festival membership program known as the HIFF Ohana and included the premiere of the festival's trailer which stars DRAGON's Jason Scott Lee and X MEN 2's Kelly Hu.
SHOW OF HANDS is a narrative feature film from New Zealand that covers the length and breadth of this contest and though we get to meet quite a few characters-including the financially strapped owner of the dealership, an old male contestant with health issues, a young blond woman who is attracted to one of the competitors, an army veteran and a car thief-the focus of the film is on two of the contestants: Jess, a parking warden (or meter maid as it is known in the states) who works for the local council and Tom, a hyper-competitive businessman.
How competitive? Tom is so into winning that he pushes the limit on the treadmill at his local gym and "outraces" the woman on the machine next to his. This is a man who times himself doing the crossword puzzle even while he places one hand on the hood of a SUV during the contest. By the way, his initial time is 6 minutes 55 seconds.
Tom is a confident man who's confidence stems not from hyperbole but from a matter-of-fact steely determination to triumph at whatever activity he is engaged in. He also can be particular and precise. When an older contestant tries to quote Alfred Lord Tennyson, Tom bluntly points out it was 600 not 900 who rode in to the valley.
One of the film's best scenes come when one of the competitors asks Tom what he is reading. A biography of Henry Kissinger, Tom replies. "What is he up to?" asks the man. "Bombing Cambodia" Tom replies in a scaldingly sarcastic tone.
What about Jess? The mother of a young daughter paralyzed in auto accident, Jess works as a parking warden and endures the taunts and insults of pissed-off car owners fuming about getting a ticket from her. Jess seems to wear the scorn of those she cites as an ill fitting shirt that should be thrown out but is kept around for reasons that are unexplained.
As played by Melanie Lynskey, Jess is a young woman who seems to be enduring life not enjoying it. All the more logical then that she would end up participating in what is essentially an endurance contest. A contest that ultimately tests people's abilities not just to endure a lack of sleep or standing for hours one end with only a few bathroom breaks every so often for the twists and turn that will force them to improvise just to keep the contest going.
SHOW OF HANDS climaxes with the raucous end of the contest but concludes quietly back at the dealership with a thoughtful conclusion that defies what might have normally been a stereotypical ending for a film of this sort.
Essentially a postmodern variant of the 1970 film THEY DON'T SHOOT HORSES DO THEY?, SHOW OF HANDS eschews dance marathons for car contests. While there is no Gig Young-like character going "Yowsa, Yowsa, Yowsa", there is radio DJ who offers a quieter, more reflective quote laden commentary of sorts throughout the film.
However, both films keep the fatigue factor going as the contest takes its toll on the contestants and both film betray the constant state of desperation that drives these people to engage in what to some people might be a silly competition.
Lynskey, known to tv viewers via her work on CBS's TWO AND HALF MEN and in films like SWEET HOME ALABAMA and SHATTERED GLASS, turns in a fine performance as Jess. Her casting here is spot on because her lovely angelic face radiates kindness which is a hallmark of the character and she often underplays her scenes giving them more depth than would be expected.
The real stand-out performance here though is by Craig Hall as Tom is a tricky role that requires juggling his character's potential for nastiness along aisde that of generosity. It is a performance that could easily be one-note, superficial and ineffective but Hall's work suggests a couple of layers in the character and provides an emotional width and height to the character that turns out to be quite plausible.
Writer/Director Anthony McCarten based his script on real contests that took place in New Zealand in the 1980's providing the film with a realistic context.
Although more than a few aspects in the plot and story of SHOW OF HANDS are predictable and easy to spot, McCarten keeps an even tone and rhythm dramatically throughout the duration of the film-never amping up the pressure and pace through music or editing but keeping his characters on level field of sorts until the picture concludes. This give the audience the ability to effective to contemplate the inherent drama going on above and below the radar of the story while not being distracted by technical distractions and overamped cinematic storytelling.
On the surface, SHOW OF HANDS appears to be a film about a grueling 5 day contest to win a Land Rover below the water of plot lie the film's main point about individuals who must face a system rigged not for their benefit but for others, designed not give them anything but sap them of their strength, energy and will.
In an era where Congress debates floating $700 billion to bail out Wall Street, where banks and lending institutions have been taken over by the Federal Government and where the average homeowner has gotten used to seeing foreclosure signs seemingly everywhere, SHOW OF HANDS is a perfect film to take in and enjoy on its own merits.
Keep that in mind when you watch it and especially when you see this scene near the end. A wroker at the dealership tells the owner that Jess and Tom won't leave until they "get satisfaction."
"That what we are all waiting for, isn't it?' replies the grim-faced owner.
Damn Right.
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