Two-Bit Waltz
Sometimes a film can be rather shocking, when you consider the highs of the
highs compared to the lows of the lows.
Two-Bit Waltz
is the first film written and directed by 20-year-old Clara Mamet, the
daughter of genius playwright, screenwriter and director David Mamet and
British actress and singer Rebecca Pidgeon. With the Mamet genes running
through her, it is no big surprise that Clara has an impressive way with
pithy dialogue.
If
Two-Bit Waltz was all people sitting around talking, it might be a
pretty terrific film. Unfortunately, the film also stops dead for a series
of quirky, surreal “dream sequences” about people wearing animal masks and
ballerinas and Shakespearean actors. These sidetracks almost completely
derail the film, making it feel a bit like a Wes Anderson knock-off.
Mamet seems desperate to surprise and shock with her characters’ offbeat
behavior, but all too often it skirts way past quirkiness into
preciousness.
In
fact, in a recent interview I did with the young writer/director/actress,
she acknowledges this fault.
"[Dialogue] does come easily to me," Mamet said. "I have trouble with the
story much more. A lot of times I write a screenplay and it’s just sort of
aimless words." She laughed. "Nebulous, random nothing. So, yeah, I do
have trouble with the story composition. That is something that I have to
get better at."
Yes,
it is. However, she does show some real potential for such a young
filmmaker. If she only decides to curb her more whimsical tendencies and
maybe learn a bit of her dad’s quality for an interesting, labyrinthine
storyline, Clara Mamet may become a talent to be reckoned with.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2014 PopEntertainment.com.
All rights reserved. Posted: December 5, 2014.
