AFF Review: The Scenesters

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The Scenesters

I knew Todd Berger as a filmmaker who'd grown up in New Orleans and made the 2007 documentary Don't Eat the Baby about post-Katrina Mardi Gras, a movie that I quite liked. But since that was the only film of his I'd seen, I always thought of him as a documentary kind of guy. I didn't know that he's a member of comedy troupe The Vacationeers -- I would never have imagined that he would write and direct a noir-mumblecore-L.A. homage comedy, The Scenesters.

The Scenesters opens with a fake trailer that spoofs "mumblecore" films mercilessly, then shifts to a jury trial, then flashes back to tell the main story of the film. The filmmakers behind the mumblecore movie are having financial troubles, and director Wallace Cotten (Todd Berger) is forced to take a job filming crime scenes for the LAPD. However, Wallace and his producer Roger (Jeff Grace) can't settle for straightforward work, and next thing we know, they're making a movie about what they've decided is a serial-killing spree. Their focus is Charlie (Blaise Miller), a guy who cleans up crime scenes, and who used to date news anchor Jewell Wright (Susanne May). Charlie has noticed that all the crime-scene victims are blonde hipster females.

It takes awhile for the story to gel, but fortunately while we're waiting, it's pretty funny. The plot sags in the middle -- the red herring didn't work for me at all. However, film geeks will enjoy the jokes about indie filmmaking, as well as the Los Angeles-area location shooting, with many scenes set at or in sight of interesting landmarks. Sherilyn Fenn has a cameo as a DA named Barbara Dietrichson (a little Double Indemnity reference there), and John Landis shows up briefly as a judge (I wondered why a theater marquee had "See You Next Wednesday" on it).

The noir scenes, shot in black-and-white, are often more silly than thrilling, but bear in mind this is a movie made by a comedy troupe. Their performances have enough comic timing to keep us entertained even when the plot becomes ridiculous, and The Scenesters manages a suspenseful climactic sequence as well. This is a great movie for film festivals, where everyone will get the jokes and will appreciate effective comedy.

Austin connections: Writer-director Todd Berger and actor Kevin Brennan, who plays a police investigator, are both former University of Texas at Austin film students.