The film follows Bill (Jojo Bapteise Whiting) in his early 20s and Matho (LaDainian Crazy Thunder) in his early teens as they try to hustle their way to success/maturity/whatever their latest goal is. And so, like hustling often involves, various different strands are followed throughout the film - some of which progress the "story" along more than others. A sense of foreboding builds at the end, partly because the score starts sounding more like Jaws and partly because a review has told me that the boys lives are somehow interlinked so I was expecting a coming together to give the whole thing some meaning. And they do meet, but I don't think anyone could particularly describe it as revelatory - however, the film does give us some moments of tenderness and emotion that are really well conveyed, particularly around Matho, who could REALLY do with a bit more adult guidance from those around him.
The film is full of very natural performances - most of the actors in the film are first time actors and they all give a good account of themselves. Jojo and LaDainian do a lot of work throughout the film and they've both very expressive and easy to hang out with, although most of their behaviour would probably be described as sketchy at best.
It's an overly quirky film style at times - the buffalos and turkeys randomly appearing do get a little unsettling, but I'm sure they mean something to someone. It's generally nicely filmed - nice use of the scenery and light and shade (although possibly a little too much shade at times). I think it manages to stay the right side of "documenting a lifestyle away from the mainstream" without straying into the "overly worthy/patronising" but I'm really not the best placed person to comment on such matters. I also think that for two white women (Riley and Gina Gammell) to create this, no matter how many Native Americans they consulted with, they are opening themselves up to comments along the "poverty tourism" lines (particularly since Riley cannot be lacking a dollar or two) - critical comment has generally been positive though.
And there's no doubt that poverty is very much on display - these people do not lead glamorous lives and the struggle to exist day-to-day feels very real. Grindingly so, which I'm sure it is, but I do feel the film could have benefited from a little more light to contrast the shade. There's also not enough plot for the length of the film and some of the stories involved go on waaaay longer than they need to - however, I never felt like giving up on it (although it did take me several attempts to get through it).
One other quibble that may be entirely down to me - I found a lot of the dialogue tricky to understand. I think it was a combination of the accents, the language and the sound levels (there's often a large amount of "background" noise, which must be a deliberate choice but not one I appreciated) but at times I really had to pay attention to get some idea what was going on.
Overall, I think there's plenty of promise and some great filmmaking on display here from Riley and Gina - for me it has not, however, resulted in a great film but it's certainly interesting and beautiful in places. If you fancy checking it out, then it's available to rent in all the usual places (and a bargain £1.99 on Apple+) - it's worth a look, but won't be for everyone.
The film is full of very natural performances - most of the actors in the film are first time actors and they all give a good account of themselves. Jojo and LaDainian do a lot of work throughout the film and they've both very expressive and easy to hang out with, although most of their behaviour would probably be described as sketchy at best.
It's an overly quirky film style at times - the buffalos and turkeys randomly appearing do get a little unsettling, but I'm sure they mean something to someone. It's generally nicely filmed - nice use of the scenery and light and shade (although possibly a little too much shade at times). I think it manages to stay the right side of "documenting a lifestyle away from the mainstream" without straying into the "overly worthy/patronising" but I'm really not the best placed person to comment on such matters. I also think that for two white women (Riley and Gina Gammell) to create this, no matter how many Native Americans they consulted with, they are opening themselves up to comments along the "poverty tourism" lines (particularly since Riley cannot be lacking a dollar or two) - critical comment has generally been positive though.
And there's no doubt that poverty is very much on display - these people do not lead glamorous lives and the struggle to exist day-to-day feels very real. Grindingly so, which I'm sure it is, but I do feel the film could have benefited from a little more light to contrast the shade. There's also not enough plot for the length of the film and some of the stories involved go on waaaay longer than they need to - however, I never felt like giving up on it (although it did take me several attempts to get through it).
One other quibble that may be entirely down to me - I found a lot of the dialogue tricky to understand. I think it was a combination of the accents, the language and the sound levels (there's often a large amount of "background" noise, which must be a deliberate choice but not one I appreciated) but at times I really had to pay attention to get some idea what was going on.
Overall, I think there's plenty of promise and some great filmmaking on display here from Riley and Gina - for me it has not, however, resulted in a great film but it's certainly interesting and beautiful in places. If you fancy checking it out, then it's available to rent in all the usual places (and a bargain £1.99 on Apple+) - it's worth a look, but won't be for everyone.