Danny McBride has made a career out of playing emotionally stunted men with borderline rage issues. Characters that lend themselves to a bit of darkness. That same darkness is where the awkward comedies that fill McBride's filmography mine their laughs. They always pull back just a little though as if to say, "Hey, Kenny Powers isn't all bad" or "that Vice Principal Gamby is a good guy, deep down".
What if they weren't though? What if they weren't anchored by innate decency and followed those feelings of rage through to their natural grim conclusion?
That's the territory explored in the new film ARIZONA. This dark, strange film is hard to classify. Extremely violent, tense, and yet grimly funny. This debut feature-length film by director Jonathan Watson (HBO's VICE PRINCIPALS) will surprise people. I had the chance to view it recently and while I can't discuss what I thought until closer to the release date I can say that a lot of McBride's fanbase isn't ready for where this film goes.
ARIZONA takes place just after the housing crash of the 2000's and finds McBride as a frustrated homeowner who when faced with losing his dream house stumbles through a blackly comic and increasing violent series of events.
The film co-stars Rosemarie DeWitt (THE UNITED STATES OF TARA), Kaitlin Olson (IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA), Luke Wilson (OLD SCHOOL), and David Alan Grier (IN LIVING COLOR).
The film is being released by RLJE, who are quickly becoming my favorite label for unconventional genre-defying fare. Ahead of the release later this month they have put out the first trailer for the film. Let's check it out:
I think that sells the strange tone of this one pretty well. What do you guys think?
ARIZONA releases in theaters and on VOD August 24. Look for my full review the week of release.
-Wheels
