Ned Rifle (2014) [Netflix (HD)]
Drama

Henry and Fay's son Ned sets out to find and kill his father for destroying his mother's life. But his aims are frustrated by the troublesome Susan, whose connection to Henry predates even his arrival in the lives of the Grim family.

Storyline: NED RIFLE is the third and final chapter of Hal Hartley's tragicomic epic begun with HENRY FOOL (1997, TIFF) and continued with FAY GRIM (2007). At once a saga concerning the Grim family of Queens and how their lives are turned upside down by the arrival of the self-proclaimed genius Henry Fool, the trilogy is also an illustration of America's grappling with ideas, art, politics, and religion over the course of 20 years. In this swiftly paced and expansive conclusion, Henry and Fay's son Ned sets out to find and kill his father for destroying his mother's life. But his aims are frustrated by the troublesome, sexy and hilarious Susan, whose connection to Henry predates even his arrival in the lives of the Grim family. Written by AnonymousReviewer's Note: Reviewed by Brian Orndorf, April 3, 2015 -- It’s been a long time since Hal Hartley has made something that looked and sounded like a Hal Hartley movie. Experimentation has been his primary concern for the last 15 years of his career, and while artistic growth is always welcome, Hartley’s gifts remain rooted with his earliest work, which took a droll, artful look at the pressures of romance and connection in a troublesome world populated with lonely people. “Ned Rifle” is a return to form for the filmmaker, with this strange revenge story working as a final act to his “Henry Fool” trilogy and as an opportunity to revisit a few notable faces from Hartley’s body of work. It’s a class reunion with a side of intrigue, executed in a most Hartley-like manner.

Raised by the fallible but kindly Rev. Daniel (Martin Donovan) and his wife, Alice (Karen Sillas), teenager Ned (Liam Aiken) frequently turns to God for comfort and inspiration, living a chaste life as his 18th birthday nears. Learning that his mother, Fay (Parker Posey), has been transferred to a nearby prison to serve out her sentence for terrorism, Ned makes plan to find Henry Fool (Thomas Jay Ryan), his estranged father, and murder him. Calmly hitting the road to locate Henry, who hasn’t been seen in years, Ned collects information from his uncle, Simon (James Urbaniak), and ends up in the presence of Susan (Aubrey Plaza), a writer who’s devoted her life to deconstructing Simon’s poetry, also selected to aid Fay as she completes her autobiography. Electing to help Susan make contact with her obsessions, Ned struggles to maintain psychological clarity and connection to God as secrets are revealed, introductions are made, and guns are loaded.

“Ned Rifle” is the final film in this cycle of domestic disturbance and artistic constipation, which began in 1997’s “Henry Fool,” continued in 2007’s “Fay Grim,” and now ends in 2015. The near-decade divide between installments provides a sense of growth, allowing the story to develop naturally as the characters carry on with their individual lives, creating a flow of time that aids the trilogy’s sense of familial manipulation. Perhaps Hartley didn’t plan out the narrative in full, piecing together an arc of discovery over three different-but-united features, but he keep the askew adventure going for “Ned Rifle,” finally concerned with closure roughly two decades after the tale began.

“Ned Rifle” is somewhat of a road movie, tracking the titular character’s journey to upstate New York to find Henry, stopping off at various points to pick up clues and acquire lodging, which, for reasons not entirely understood, plays a significant role in the tale’s development. Perhaps Ned’s unsettled existence is meant to be underlined through his inability to find a permanent place in life, and Hartley visits a handful of hotel and motel rooms in his quest to learn more about his lead character and keep close to Susan, an enigmatic woman with troubling make-up issues who’s just as determined to find Henry. Together, the pair meets with Simon, who’s abandoned poetry to become a blogger and a stand-up comic, finding little satisfaction in both pursuits. Ned and Susan also share a connection to Fay, who’s trying to make the best of things in prison, receiving updates on the mystery from Simon. However, “Ned Rifle” mostly remains on its young protagonist, a believer suffering a crisis of conscience, out to kill the man who ruined his life and drawn to Susan’s pronounced sexuality, all the while keeping a dialogue open with God for guidance.

Perhaps nostalgia has finally come to claim Hartley. “Ned Rifle” is peppered with welcome cameos from actors the filmmaker has previously worked with, spying Sillas and Donovan as Ned’s caretakers, Robert John Burke as a church handyman, and Bill Sage as Henry’s booze-loving pal, who’s also dabbling in poetry. Sadly, no sign of Elina Lowensohn.

Familiar faces add a sense of comfort to “Ned Rifle,” while Hartley relaxes interest in the manipulation of digital cinematography and Dutch angles, treating his latest effort much like his earliest pictures. Working with editing, a charmingly low-fi score (composed by Hartley, who previously used the pseudonym “Ned Rifle” for his musical achievements), and a finger-snap script, the feature revives Hartley’s gifts with timing and deadpan humor, with a straightforward delivery that delivers mood and encourages terrific performances, even from the problematic Plaza.

“Ned Rifle” offers a degree of finality that suggests the helmer is done with this world, and it offers a wonderful ending, which is something of a Hartley specialty. While it doesn’t quite reach previous artistic heights, “Ned Rifle” is a secure return to form for the filmmaker, and the best feature he’s made in the last 20 years.

[CSW] -2.3- This was a Kickstarter-backed film written and directed by Hal Hartley. It looks and sounds much cheaper than the director's earlier work. Ned Rifle is unabashedly a fans' movie. Its jokes assume fluency with Henry Fool, Fay Grim and even early details from Mr. Hartley's films, none of which I have seen. This movie just never stuck with me. The director/writer is the sort of independent voice that seems to enjoy basking in the peculiarity of whatever he has thought up over doing a sensible thing where that could really hold the story together. If you thoroughly like his earlier movies this might be a nice ending to the trilogy, but the rest of us should just stay home. I found it to be a true time waster, although it was not too unpleasant but only because I am a fan of Aubrey Plaza.
[V4.0-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box.


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