Zachariah

Part 2 of the Musical Memorial Weekend

Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't watch this film and think, "Geez, what a rip off, it's just someone trying to cash in on Tommy." That was my intitial thought. Just another film made in the image of Tommy with a slightly different story and set in the crazy west. I WAS WRONG. I admit it, I was. Tommy more than likely copied from this film since this one came out 4 years earlier. With that said, this film is a really mixed bag. So I will try to explain myself as much as possible.

The story is fascinating. Its the story of two best friends who love each other in that Sam and Frodo fashion (are they gay? are they not? Bi?) who get a gun and decide to go grow up and be big time gun fighters. Along the way, we see the genesis of rock and hows it has progressed. Eventually they split as Zachariah decides to keep looking for something while his partner decides to be a ruthless gunslinger. I was only half watching and going in and out of the film a lot, but I will say that the music is fun and at times pretty amazing. The story doesn't make a lot of sense and in the trek of Zachariah he meets a hot woman he bangs and a crazy zen coot out in the wilderness who teaches him peace. I think my favorite line though is definately "That is not for friends! It's for vampires!". Yea, its a trippy plot filmed in a surrealist manner. Random violinists singing to the protagonist and crazy dumb hippie gangs that can't pull off a proper heist. I did like the idea of robbing a bank by having a show downtown to attract everyone else though. Next!

The acting in this film is eh. The two main characters give off a strange feeling akin to Brokeback Mountain, but I just attribute this to drugs and the 70's. The acting in this case is really uneccessary and is more a means for the real star, which is the surrealist telling of the story. The best example is the obvious symbol of modern day Las Vegas, Capitol City which seems to be comprised of 3-5 store fronts with nothing behind em but sand. Yet, when you walk through the doors to one, you are inside the place. The idea is that the fronts are merely symbols for the places of the actions inside and everything about the film reminds you that it is a film with a message told in symbols and vague references. There hasn't been a fun one like that recently since The Big Lebowski. I especially love the showdown scene in the gun fighter club and the irrational behavior on both parts of the actors. But like I said, the acting is only a vehicle for the trippy crazy visuals and the interesting design choices.

Conclusion:
I for one, am sad that no one is really making films like this anymore. I kind of hope that Tarantino will try his hand at one. I know that he prefers action violent flicks, but he might be the only person I can think of off the bat who could pull of the insane almost drug like visuals and allusions. Plus it would be a very different turn for him, one that would hopefully be more appealing to me than his usual fare...but I digress. This film is not bad by any means, it's just hard to sit through with the crazy non sequitur plotline and the mediocre acting. But the music and crazy vibe plus the cool and obvious symbols make it a worthy viewing and captivating all at the same time. It works at least 75% of the time and that ain't half bad.

3.56 out of 5

Wannabe