FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1998 All Rights Reserved.
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| FILM Hav Plenty Scene one: Starving writer sitting on couch talking on phone to girl. Scene two: Airplane shot. Scene three: Driving car. Scene four: Same writer at door talking to girl. Scene five: Same girl sitting, talking to another girl. Scene six: Two girls sitting on bed talking. Scene seven. Guy on couch sitting talking to girl. This is about as exciting as this "light comedy" from newcomer director/writer/actor Christopher Scott Cherot gets. Based on a true story that rivals baking instructions in originality, this film traces a New Year's weekend in the life of homeless writer Lee Plenty (Cherot), as the penniless artist decides to fly across the US on a whim and spend a big night with friend and maybe/not-so-sure/no way/perhaps girlfriend Havilland Savage (Chenoa Maxwell). As a director Cherot's sense of blocking adds new meaning to the word stilted and his continuous use of close-ups betrays the director's major influence: the television sitcom. Yet even the most mediocre of sitcoms add as much depth and humor to their stories as Hav Plenty, so I can't even comprehend why someone would want to shell out money to watch this. The attempts at humor are relegated to someone sitting on a couch and falling over (two times), and the lead talking to the camera (aka early Woody Allen), assuring us that the next scene won't be as predictable as it appears. The humor here, I suppose, is that the next scene is as predictable as it appears. Savage's acting versatility stretchers from an ill-tempered pout to starry-eyed swooning. All of this while she stands, sits and lies in various states of repose. Talent at its best. While I'm a believer in low-budget films about real life done outside the studio system, what I can't tolerate are ones that display the "developing artist" in their angst-driven microcosm of superficial obstacles and self-deprived sexuality. The films are always masturbatory and end with the artist/director/actor ego getting what it wants because they think that's what we want. The plain truth of it is we want something original when we pay for it, not something we can get for free anytime we pick up the remote control. |
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