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Newest Reviews: New Movies - Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Old Movies - Touki Bouki: The Journey of the Hyena The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry Archives - Recap: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 , 2005, 2006, 2007 , 2008 , 2009 , 2010 , 2011 , 2012
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Don’s Plum (R.D. Robb) 2001 Disclaimer – I
viewed Don’s Plum not in a theater, but on a bootleg VHS tape that I got off
of ebay, complete with an occasional time code, suggesting it might not have
been a 100% finished copy. Still, it seemed close enough that I don’t feel too
bad about writing a review. Don’s Plum, a
jazzy riff of a movie that feels more like an extended short film, has had its
US release suppressed since it’s not exactly flattering to its powerful
stars’ (Leo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire) images. During the slightly
improvisational film, which takes place almost exclusively in a restaurant / bar
named “Don’s Plum”, a small group of twentyish boys and girls wax
not-too-poetically mostly about sex and what they perceive as each others’
weaknesses. Derek (DiCaprio), the resident misanthropic alpha-male, is the most
irritable of this group of slackers, and his mean-spirited taunts at the others
set the tone for this evening of “hanging out”. Though the movie’s lack of narrative thrust, variation of
topic, and low production values recall Larry Clark’s Kids, this is a much better, less damning movie, though it must be
noted that it takes fewer risks than Clark’s film did. Still, the cast manages
to consistently build a good deal of energy with their banter, even if that
energy has no place to go, since the movie doesn’t have much in the way of a
point beyond an evocation of their mindset. That’s disappointing, because
it’s usually preferable to have some sort of insight instead of simple, if
effective, recreation of mood. It’s a bit disturbing that DiCaprio and Maguire had no
faith in their audience’s ability to discern the characters that they play
from they people who they are. Though there are a few slightly shocking moments
(DiCaprio threatens to stick a bottle in a woman’s face and Maguire threatens
to stick a finger up his ass), there’s nothing that could really be seen as a
real threat to their establishment as matinee idols. It’s a shame that, as two
of their generation’s better actors, they aren’t bigger risk takers.
Frankly, the bit in Vanilla Sky where
Tom Cruise insists that he is straight is more shocking than anything Don’s Plum offers up. These characters are so obviously characters
that I don’t see how the fear that their attitudes would be read as
representative came to be, especially since DiCaprio himself plays an even less
likable character in Woody Allen’s Celebrity,
and even though the film is a bit of a failure, it’s still better than The
Cider House Rules or The Beach. The presence of those stars is the main reason to see this
film, however. There are only a few scenes Don’s
Plum that work unequivocally (the best occurs when one of the gang is
offered a ride on the casting couch), and the rest of the cast doesn’t make
much of a lasting impression. The worst moments in the film occur during the
frequent and indulgent confessionals given to a bathroom mirror. Nearly the
entire cast stops the action for a snippet of soul baring once or twice, but it
rarely has any enlightening effect upon the main action. As a Diner
for its generation, it feels terribly empty. Ultimately, Don’s
Plum is most interesting as a footnote to the tabloid tale of its
distribution. **½ 01-04-02 Jeremy Heilman
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