水形物语

两个来自于乡下的热血青年抱着对城市生活的憧憬和向往，在经过几年的奋斗之后，终于有了自己房子，乔迁之喜，吕秋和男友大川享受着温馨甜蜜的二人世界，而吕秋的爸爸，吕老爷子的不请自来彻底打破了这对恋人平静的生活。分别生长于农村与城市的老少两辈人，在太多问题上存在着隔阂。随着吕老爷子的出现，吕秋和大川的感情即将遭受前所未有的历练。

　　取经路上，唐僧（贾永泉 饰）师徒四人遇到豹精（王玉清 饰）到员外家抢亲，经过一番搏杀，寡不敌众的豹精暴毙而亡，员外一家很是高兴。次日，一行四人途经牛魔宫，踫上牛魔王与铁扇公主闹家务，悟空（董志华 饰）出言不逊，得罪了铁扇公主。师徒继续西行，这日，他们来到车池国，如今的车池国被妖孽控制，唐僧率徒在此停留数日，捣毁了妖窟，恢复了昔日宁静的生活。红孩儿（穆立新 饰）接其母铁扇公主信告，得知孙悟空冲撞其母，决心为母报仇。观音菩萨得知唐僧师徒有难，差弟子木吒、金吒与哪吒前往相助，最终收降了红孩儿......
　　故事取材于吴承恩名著《西游记》。

　　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.