Hello there. It's Annette Kellerman back again with yet another short review from SXSW 2009. Though I am still a bit weary from rocking out at the Metallica show at Stubb's last night (it was SO GREAT!), I am still trying to stay on track with at least one review a day...

ALEXANDER THE LAST

As the king of the "mumblecore", Joe Swanberg has been at the forefront of this low-budget, loosely scripted film movement. Unfortunately, aside from Swanberg's numerous projects I've found most of his followers work to be pretentious, uninteresting, hipster drivel. In contrast, Swanberg shows enormous talent in pulling great performances from his actors- even his sometimes non actors. In ALEXANDER THE LAST once again he displays this talent. Not that this is his only talent, mind you. The director also manages to pair a visual tone with the performances he extracts that contributes to the intimacy, intensity, or silliness of the situation he is capturing.

The film revolves around Alex, and actress who is happily married to a frequently touring musician. When she lands a particularly juicy role opposite and actor with whom she obviously shares some chemistry offstage, Alex begins to question her own temptations and desires.

Though Swanberg's usual bells and whistles are all there, and the overall look of the film, I think, is superior to any of his previous work, I just found the film a bit boring. There are some silly moments between Alex and her sister as well as a good dose of T and A throughout, but these were the only moments that really grabbed my attention, and a few cute or sordid moments hardly make up for the blahness of the rest of the story.

The one redeeming factor that kept me watching, however, is the beautiful and fantastic Jess Weixler. Weixler first wowed me with her honest and ballsy performance in Teeth- a film that would have drowned in campiness were it not for Weixler's buoyant and perfectly nuanced performance. Again, in ALEXANDER THE LAST, she provides the sole vestige of greatness in a sea of blah. I look forward to her future work with eager anticipation.

So, in conclusion, ALEXANDER THE LAST isn't a terrible effort from one of my usual faves, Joe Swanberg, its just the least memorable. On a cooler note, this film is at the forefront of Video on Demand distribution. While it had its premiere here at SXSW, the film is also available on VOD through the Independent Film Channel, so if you want to check it out, you can do so today. While I am thrilled that Swanberg is leading another sort of film making and distribution revolution, I'm afraid I just wish it could've been with one of his earlier efforts.

I'll be checking in again soon with my final reports from the festival.

Annette Kellerman