How do you sell a movie that, if people knew what it was actually about, they would never buy it? Why, prominently feature the most famous and well-liked cast member on the DVD box, even if he’s in the film for only 15 or so minutes, of course! Writing up a misleading description for the back won’t hurt either.
When you look at the Photoshop Disasters-worthy cover of Frenemy, Zach Galifianakis’ friendly face, framed by Callum Blue (Dead Like Me, Smallville) and Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket, Weeds), looks back at you. The visage, topped by big, round and red letters spelling out the film’s title, suggests a wacky comedy. The back description, on the other hand, brings to mind a dark comedy, albeit not the one this movie actually is. It describes a “group of friends” who witness a “horrifying crime” which leaves all but one unharmed.
The crime is horrifying, but the group involved are hardly friends. A pair of them are thick as thieves, but the other — Mr. Galifianakis himself — is merely a drug-dealing, adult bookstore-owner whose clerk ends up meeting the untimely demise during a robbery at the shop.
Kirk Vanderbeek of Real Detroit Weekly describes it as “A David Lynch meets Kevin Smith style, with a dash of ‘Tarantino.’”
I suppose the buddy-theme evokes a bit of Kevin Smith — Modine’s Mr. Jack and Blue’s Sweet Stephan have a rapport vaguely similar to that of Randal and Dante, and their cavalier back-and-forths about “serious” matters of life and death seem like something one might find in a Tarantino flick. Their names certainly recall the often campy nicknames Tarantino uses. (Incidentally, the only work of Lynch’s I’ve seen is the video for Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game,” so I can’t really speak to that.)
However, writer Robert Dean Klein and director Gregory Dark didn’t pack quite the same punch into Frenemy. It takes longer than it should for the pieces of what’s going on to fall into place, and while the film is clearly supposed to be funny, it never really hits its mark. It starts out confusing and stays that way, but by the time things are cleared up you'll probably have stopped caring, if you were able to start in the first place. It’s hard to care about the characters, Sweet Stephan being the exception (which is probably why he gets to go to heaven!).
Modine and Blue aren’t bad actors — both are talented enough that it’s a wonder they got involved with this movie — but the script calls for Blue, an Englishman, to play an American, and talented though he may be, accents aren’t his strong suit. Modine, on the other hand, is an American playing an American pretending to have an English accent. (Accents aren’t his strong suit either.) If you’re familiar with Blue his attempt at being American is distracting enough, but Modine’s flaky English accent doesn’t help.
Likewise distracting is the at-times shaky and kitschy camera angles and filter effects, as well as the goofy names. (Mr. Jack? Sweet Stephan? Really?) The soundtrack might actually be the best thing about the film — that and the original poster, which features a much more relevant (and, lo and behold, Tarantino-like) image of Modine and Blue sitting serenely on a park bench. Of course, the marketing wizards at Lionsgate know that Zach Galifianakis’ beaming face is more appealing than a pair of guys on a bench over a blood-spattered title.
DVD Bonus Features
No special features on this one, save for a Trailer Gallery and optional Spanish subtitles.
"Frenemy" is on sale December 14, 2010 and is rated R. Comedy, Thriller. Directed by Gregory Dark. Written by Robert Dean Klein. Starring Adam Baldwin, Callum Blue, Matthew Modine.
