Fraught with over obvious symbolism, Hartley's early feature is nonetheless a joy to watch. Hal here shows us his uncanny ability to cast his characters perfectly came early in his career. Adrienne Shelley is a near perfect foil to herself, equal parts annoying teen burgeoning in her sexuality (though using sex for several years); obsessed with doom and inspired by idealism gone wrong she is deceptively – and simultaneously – complex and simple. Her Audrey inspires so many levels of symbolism it is almost embarrassingly rich (e.g., her modeling career beginning with photos of her foot – culminating her doing nude (but unseen) work; Manhattan move; Europe trip; her stealing, then sleeping with the mechanics wrench, etc.) As Josh, Robert Burke gives an absolutely masterful performance. A reformed prisoner/penitent he returns to his home town to face down past demons, accept his lot and begin a new life. Dressed in black, and repeatedly mistaken for a priest, he corrects everyone ("I'm a mechanic"), yet the symbolism is rich: he abstains from alcohol, he practices celibacy (is, in fact a virgin), and seemingly has taken on vows of poverty, and humility as well. The humility seems hardest to swallow seeming, at times, almost false, a pretense. Yet, as we learn more of Josh we see genuineness in his modesty, that his humility is indeed earnest and believable. What seems ironic is the character is fairly forthright in his simplicity, yet so richly drawn it becomes the viewer who wants to make him out as more than what he actually is. A fascinatingly written character, perfectly played. The scene between Josh and Jane (a wonderful, young Edie Falco . . . "You need a woman not a girl") is hilarious . . . real. But Hartley can't leave it as such and his trick, having the actors repeat the dialogue over-and-over becomes frustratingly "arty" and annoying . . . until again it becomes hilarious. What a terrific sense of bizarre reality this lends the film (like kids in a perpetual "am not"/"are too" argument). Hartley's weaves all of a small neighborhood's idiosyncrasies into a tapestry of seeming stereotypes but which delves far beneath the surface, the catalyst being that everyone believes they know what the "unbelievable truth" of the title is, yet no two people can agree (including our hero) on what exactly that truth is. A wonderful little movie with some big ideas.
《请点赞》围绕三对男女讲述了发生在社交网络和现实生活中的爱情故事。韩文中的“点赞”同时有“喜欢”之意。而片中的三段爱情故事都是由“点赞”这样一个简单的动作发展而来的。
大學生黃惜時，自幼喪父，慈母省吃儉用，供他上大學，望子成龍，惜他誤交壞友，染上揮霍享樂惡習，暑假期間，黃遇見少女白素行，一見鍾情，白亦對黃有愛意，惟真情不露，兩人曾相約於荔枝灣見面，黃拿著頸鏈等候白，不料白因故失約，黃失望而回，途中巧遇校花米錦華，黃為米的美色吸引，以頸鏈相贈示愛，貪慕虛榮的校花米，誤信黃是官家子弟，揮金如土，即投懷送抱，黃把慈母的血汗錢，揮霍享樂，更六親不認，拒認慈母。米玩弄黃之後移情別戀，嫁予馮團長為妾侍，此時，黃已被學校開除，身敗名裂，寄身於寺廟，徬徨無助之際……
