The Butler Brothers emulate a lot of other filmmakers with their low-budget independent features, but at least they are picking from a good lot. Kevin Smith, Hal Hartley, Tarantino and myriad other Sundancers who have achieved cinematic cult status the last decade or so are certainly filmmakers worth copying. And somewhere embedded in all this cinematic xeroxing, there are certainly gems of originality, wit, intelligence and uniqueness of vision that make the Butlers young filmmakers to keep an eye on.

"Bums," the brothers' most recent video feature, furthers the filmmakers' work in the field of "relationship" comedies... or dramas... or dramedies... for lack of a better genre description. This genre was also utilized by the Butlers for an earlier 8mm feature called "Alive and Lubricated." But that earlier work was far more loaded with misogyny than this new tale. Since these are male filmmakers (hopefully you garnered that from the term "brothers"), the scripts and dialogue have a decidedly male slant, even when females enter the scene as they do in "Bums." But then again, since the roles of males and females have blurred in recent years in heterosexual relationships, these males are far more in tune with women than the role models that have inhabited relationship films of the past. The males here are, by and large, far more sensitive and considerate, just as the females, to nearly the same degree, are more sexual and aggressive.

While the male slant may be obvious in "Bums" (when two females are alone together, one hits on the other one), it is certainly much more realistic and modern than the dreck we find in a lot of the indie film scripts popping up in low budget features out there these days. For example, this is a far better script and a far m ore realistic film than the highly overrated indie fave "Funny Ha Ha" that came out recently.

Here, the girls are strong, smart, sassy women who understand the modern male psyche much more than their cinematic predecessors have and their cinematic peers usually do. "This is because I think the Beatles are better than the fucking Stones, isn't it!" one of the women suggests to the guy who is breaking up with her. This dialogue is obviously a male ideal (and funny), and yet it suggests not only the frivolity of the male psyche in relationships but also the female understanding of that psyche. Then again, it also implies a complete disregard for the modern males sensitivity in relationship issues. The female is strong, vocal, insightful. She has many attributes previously not attributed to her gender and yet in her growth as a powerful, forceful woman she has come to expect nothing but frivolity and idiocy from the male. She completely disregards that during the time of her growth, the male has grown as well, becoming more sensitive, responsive and understanding. The changing synergy of the heterosexual relationship in post millennium America is truly the focus of this film and the Butler Brothers bring an insight and a wit to the table that is sorely missing in their cinematic peers arsenal.

Yet, the Butler Brothers' dialogue (and in "Bums" the script is credited to brother Brett while both Brett and Jason appear in the film and take a director credit) can be as juvenile and sophomoric at times as their peers, albeit thankfully not too often. Song lyrics, film dialogue, and pop culture references are interlaced into nearly every conversation. After suggesting that they may do better with picking-up the ladies at the bars if they had a black friend, two white guys sing "Ebony and Ivory." This might work with two genius indie actors mouthing the dialogue, but it seems inane when uttered by the characters here.

The acting in "Bums" is decent but certainly not the kind to help make the film noticed by critics or film festival staff. While the actors in the piece (including the brothers) certainly have the confidence to present their speeches with attitude and charm, they too often fall flat in making it seem real and extemporaneous. This might work if it came out as "stylized," as in the work of Hartley, but it doesn't. Faltering between seeming improvised and badly acted, the performances here, all of them based in verbal ping-pong, don't win us over as decidedly as they should.

When it comes to cinematics, the Butlers are risk takers. There are split-screens that present images in twos, threes and fours, echoing the ideal of Warhol while heralding the computer editing era in low-budget indie films. But, again, this fails just as often as it works. A particularly annoying moment in the film comes when the camera pans back and forth during a conversation between a man and woman while she relates a story about her family life as a child. The performances here are astounding and the scene could be one of the most emotionally resonant moments in the film, and yet the filmmakers decide it is more important to be visually "clever" than to be realistic and therefore the camera pans painfully slow between the characters as they sit at a table and talk, leaving the emotions in the back of our thoughts and negating the power of the performance.

And, for no apparent reason other than to be different, the video film is presented in a sort of black and white that is really a demured version of the color video they shot. It doesn't look very good and consistently makes us wonder why such a choice was made every time we see a hint of blue or red that hasn't been washed to gray by what ever process the brothers used to change the color of the video. This again only works to take us out of the movie. When the Butlers get better (i.e. film) equipment and learn to edit themselves successfully as camera operators, editors and creative filmmakers, they may become the brightest filmmakers of their generation, in both sense of the word.

The Butlers also have ties to the music in the film and their SubProd ( http://www.subprod.com ) label, which handles the DVD distribution of their films, may also one day handle the soundtrack of their films and some CD's by the bands who have songs in their films. This cottage entertainment industry engineered by the brothers not only seems to help promote their friends' music but also gives them access to original tunes for their films. Of course, in this modern age of cross-promotion and marketing ploys, such a set-up is a pretty genius idea. And yet, like their big budget Hollywood counterparts, the brothers seem to too often use the music cues in their films to promote their friends' songs rather than further the film. It can be overwhelming at times and take away from the groove the story has gotten into, distracting the viewer more often than it accentuates the action.

Yet, when one pushes aside the problems in "Bums," and there are several as noted here, and concentrates on the wit, imagination, and insight that it contains, one easily sees a film with much to offer. While not the perfect film that the Butler Brothers are capable of making, "Bums" leads us by the nose into their career and makes us hunger for the next film that pops out of the siblings often intriguing minds.

Notes:

Viewed in December 2005 and January 2006 on a DVD provided by the filmmakers.

Report Card

Script: A

Acting: D

Cinematography\Lighting: C-

Special Effects\Make Up: C

Music: C-

Final Grade: C-