顽皮鬼4

　　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.

　　11岁的东尼接受拳击训练，然而她被隔壁舞道教室吸引，偷偷私下练习，并为自己穿耳洞，希望加入那些女孩的行列。女孩们相继出现抽搐、奇怪的症状，仿佛是一种成长的象征，也使得东尼陷入想被认同却又犹疑这样的诡异情景的矛盾之中。

　　大学生铃木一郎（渡浩之 饰）是一个其貌不扬的青年，但他却有着不为人知的神奇能力。他自幼就能看到游离在身边的鬼魂，并能与他们交谈，不过铃木始终对这个能力懵懵懂懂。
　　圣诞前夜，他搬到一幢新的公寓。原本收拾房间便是一件让人心烦的事情，偏偏还有很多不知趣的人前来打扰。铃木烦躁地送走许多不速之客，但是有那么几个人让他无计可施。俏皮可爱的娜娜（鈴木蘭々 饰）和她的伙伴马尔（Dave Spector 饰）执意要进入铃木的房间，双方为此展开神奇而有趣的攻防战，铃木更被他们好好捉弄了一番。不过他最终得知，娜娜一行人原来是天上派下来的天使，他们要在圣诞夜为孤魂野鬼们熬制温暖灵魂的鬼汤，铃木的房间刚好就是鬼魂即将聚集的所在……