Film Review: Trust (15)
Directed by Hal Hartley
a review by Paul Burland
Canadian director Hal Hartley takes the audience on a rollercoaster ride in Trust. Trust can only be described as a black comedy social realism with more than a tinge of lunicy. The pace at which this film runs keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
The story focuses on two families, especially the parent son/daughter relationships. Right from the start you get a feel for how the film will progress, Maria Coughlan (Adrienne Shelly), while attempting to blag $5 from her parents, reveals that she is pregnant the resulting shock causes her father to drop dead. "Nobody dies of a heart attack. They die of disgust." As the film progresses the true insanity of Maria's mother comes to light, especially in regard to Matthew Slaughter.
Matthew Slaughter (Martin Donovan) is the other main character. Matthew's opening scene involves him putting his supervisors head in a clamp at work and then quitting his job. Matthew's home life if not any less crazy. His father treats him like a child although is in his mid 20's. Matthew is the kind of character who on the face of it looks easy to understand but becomes harder to understand with time. His mental stability comes into doubt when he reveals he carries a hand grenade "Just in case".
Maria and Matthew meet and forge a friendship. This is no mushy Hollywood romance though, they seem to have a love hate relationship. Maria believes that respect, admiration and trust = love. While Matthew believes that respect, admiration and trust are better than love. He also believes he can love nobody. The conclusion of the story may seem obvious from this point on but the climax of this film is far from obvious.
The characters in this film are outstanding, they are all highly complex. The acting is also very good considering none of the cast are big names. Possible the most enjoyable part of this film is Hal Hartley's style of writing and directing. The script is incredibly tight in it's composition. Conversations are carried out between characters at break neck speed, in total opposition to reality, there are no ums or ahhs here. This speed makes the film incredibly gripping and tiring. The style of directing is very cleaver, many of the scenes are inside, in the shadows, often highlighting the different sides to the characters.
At least one of the characters in Trust will hold you attention if not all of them. If you hate slow dull & sloppy movies then Trust is the film for you. Strong characters and storyline combined with an excellently written script and superb directing make Trust an exciting and compelling film.