Tusk is a film about a podcaster who goes to Canada to meet with an old man. This old man drugs him, mutilates him, and turns the podcaster into a walrus out of his own parts. The podcaster's friends then have to come find him...While it may sounds strange, this is in fact a movie, and it's made by Kevin Smith. Surprisingly, it's not bad either. The plot I gather has probably shaken you. The first time I heard of it I thought, "This is going to be complete shit." What I also thought when I heard of this film was that it was very far from the stories that Kevin Smith often tells. The tone and the plot just seemed so different from his other work. And yet, as I watched Tusk, I realized that there was much more to this film than just the brutally violent story of a man being turned into a walrus. Smith is know for the offbeat comedies of his early work, and at times this is what Tusk feels like. In fact, before Wallace the podcaster starts getting turned into a walrus, the film is actually very much a comedy. Not all of it is funny and there's a particularly mean-spirited part, but most of it sticks. Justin Long, who plays Wallace, really makes the guy look like kind of an asshole. This is actually a good thing because it is one of the factors going into what makes Tusk so powerful. Long, however, pales in comparison to Michael Parks, who I find is one of those character actors that's good in anything. He really has charisma and helps keep the film together for the most part. Then the tone changes. Now it's dark, brutal, yet still kind of funny. The old man starts to do his thing, changing Wallace both physically and mentally. Tusk reveals its other storyline here. At times, when he blacks out, Wallace imagines events that lead up to this. The film uses similar breaks to transition into the search for Wallace. These flashbacks are powerful weapons and are perfectly setup. They are also a nice change from the surprisingly absent yet brutal and disturbing surgery scenes. I was very surprised that the walrus turned up after so little surgery, but this still works. Also during this act is the story of Wallace’s friends looking for him. Additionally, there is an extremely crazy plot twist that scared the shit out of me. The third act starts and there is a cameo that moves into very funny territory. The friends meet up with a man who I will not say anything about. I will say that he is very funny, and while his section is distracting, it's still very amusing. All of this then comes together at the end with a confrontation that is so witty and disturbing that I can't even believe how I was supposed to take it. Then the film reveals its big weapon--sentimentality. The flashbacks have shown us what Wallace was like as a person, and in the full sweep of the film there is a moment that is like getting punched. I suddenly realized just how seriously the film was taking itself, and I felt for all the characters. The ending made me especially sad actually. The reason I cut this review into the 3 acts is because I wanted to highlight just how different each one of them are. The acts all work really well on their own. They eventually all kind of to tie together, but they just don't seem to cohere completely. I really liked Tusk though. The beginning made me laugh for the most part, the middle disturbed me and was interesting. The end made me laugh again and feel oddly touched. There are good performances even though it is pretty insane. I give Tusk an 8 out of 10. Reviewed by Stephen Tronicek. Edited by Holly Clemons.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |