How far down can one go in life? How deep is
the bottom - the point at which the only direction to go is up? And, what can
get you there? This deeply introspective Canadian film, Red Rover, brings these
questions to the forefront. The film opens with a musical countdown, if
you will, while the opening credits run. In a 75 second montage we're
introduced to Damon Pierce, the film's underdog protagonist. He's played by
Kristian Bruun (Orphan Black and The Murdoch Mysteries) in a wondrously
understated performance. We see Damon walking the beach with a metal detector,
sitting dejectedly in his office cubicle and finally going to bed, on a couch,
in an extremely cramped space with a palpable depression evident on his face.
He turns the tiny lamp out... and TITLE.
We join him at work. His boring presentation
of a survey to his boss, Brad (played with the perfect amount of selfish,
materialistic insensitivity by Josh Peace), eventually gets him fired.
"Remember when I poached you... you were the man. But I'm letting you
go." What happened to Damon to turn his fortunes so, from being a
geologist so respected he was stolen from another company, to the unconfident
man he is just one year later?
As we learn more about Damon we find his
cramped living space is actually the basement of a house he owns with his ex,
Beatrice. She is now living with another man, Mark from Australia, who doesn't
seem to own any shirts, in the upstairs of the house. He's a total ass. A
selfish unemployed jerk, played to perfection by Morgan David Jones. Megan
Heffern, as Beatrice (in another lovely performance) represents the duality
that is Woman (at least to a man) whose feelings for Damon are very complex. She's
at turns mean, sympathetic and caring.
On an evening sweep of the beach (what is
Damon searching for with such an intensity? Will we ever find out?) he meets
Phoebe. She's... different. I mean, she's wearing a space suit. She's searching
the beach, flashlight on, wearing a space suit. Helmet and all. "Find any
treasure?" she asks, scaring the heck out of Damon. She shows him a lone
earring, a blue star and asks him "If you find another star like this will
you let me know?" She gives him her phone number on a flyer for Red Rover.
She's currently working as a temp publicizing it. It's a multiphase competition
to find the first 4 people to go on this one-way mission to Mars." As she
bounds away down the beach, yes, bouncing like she's walking on the moon, "Red
Rover, Red Rover, we're calling you over!" Damon examines the flyer.
Eventually he investigates the website:
"Those going won't be coming back. But, imagine a human settlement on the
planet Mars. We're looking for strong and intelligent applicants willing to
enrich their lives by giving them over to the greatest adventure in the history
of our species."
You got it. Damon decides to apply. He goes
whole hog. While jogging to get into shape, he runs into Phoebe busking,
playing guitar and singing. "I'm
trying to get into better shape," he tells her. Later, when he finds
Phoebe's other earring, and she sees his attempt of a video introduction,
"That was terrible..." she decides that that's how she'll pay Damon
back for finding her earring. "I'll help you make this video!" Basically,
Damon now has a "Fairy Godmother in a Space Suit." If Walt Disney had
lived to see men on the moon he may have had a new movie.
Cara Gee as Phoebe is a revelation. Phoebe
has her own back story, now just Damon's fairy godmother and friend. She's also
the complete opposite of Damon. She's wild and open emotionally. A 21st century
hippie with long black hair laced with purple braids. She's a singer/songwriter
who, when this gig's up, is going to tour around, living in her car and playing
music.
She films Damon working out (if you can call
not being able to do one pull-up working out) in the park and on the beach. She
interviews him on her iPhone:
"Tell us about your sisters. Are you
going to miss them; that sort of thing," she asks.
"I'm... really not... close with my
family."
"Why do you want to go to Mars?"
"I dunno."
"So why not just take off? You can go to
another city or another country?"
"I.. du..," he stammers. "I
just don't feel like that would be far enough away."
Filming continues at night in an amusement
park. He asks her why she's not going to Mars. She replies she's not "done
here" while Damon is. He's "hitting the escape button."
She submits her video to Red Rover,
unbeknownst to Damon and much to his surprise, he's made it to round two where
he will be interviewed by the Red Rover team in a world-wide streaming event.
Yeah, gulp! Mission accomplished, Phoebe now wants to move on.
Red Rover is a terrific film. Murray and
Belcourt have written a unique script that plays with one's emotions. It's not
just a late coming of age tale, Damon is 33, but in its own way a mystery we
follow along with. Damon's past year is told in flashbacks that show his
descent into depression. Some of this will hit home with many viewers. Filmed
in the lovely city of Toronto, with a small crew, (many fill multiple
positions), with deft direction by Shane Belcourt, editing by Luke Higginson, a
musical score by Anthony Wallace and lovely original songs by Belcourt and
Wallace, Red Rover is one of those film gems that sometimes fall between the
cracks. Try not to miss it.
Red Rover is currently available for streaming on
Youtube, Google Play and Amazon Prime.