Buddy Boy (2000)

Shy, withdrawn Francis (Queer as Folk's Aidan Gillen) spends his lonely days caring for his domineering invalid stepmother (Forbidden Zone's Susan Tyrrell)...until the arrival of beautiful Gloria (Bitter Moon's Emmanuelle Seigner), a new neighbor whose daily activities become the center of his life. However, he soon comes to suspect that she's harboring a horrific secret, one that will change his life forever... A stylish and disturbing psychological thriller in the tradition of David Lynch and Roman Polanski filled with powerful performances and dazzling visuals, Buddy Boy will keep you riveted until the final shocking scene!

Not as good as Lynch but still....

Buddy Boy is a good movie. I have just seen it for the first time after a long wait. I bought this movie because there were many references to David Lynch works, and I have to admit it's quite obvious. But it not a bad thing. Hanlon is clearly not as talented as Lynch, but still, the plot is quite good. The ending tho, is just plain confusion.

If you like strange movies you'll probably like this one. February 21, 2008

Slowwwwwly lures you in

There's much not to like about this movie, true. Unlike a previous viewer, I would never recommend Eraserhead. I'm glad I saw it, but being able to say I saw it is the only thing I've taken from that movie. The tone and general vibe in Buddy Boy does resemble Eraserhead somewhat, but this movie is more watchable and more enjoyable. It's still quite weird, but the weirdness is palatable in a way that it wasn't in Eraserhead.

The pacing of this movie, like similarly-themed movies from the compared directors Lynch and Polanski, is slow. As such, the movie must rely on its mystery and the way it gradually unravels. It must use the slow pacing to its advantage, so to speak, and on this front it does a pretty good job. It's a movie of quiet, soft-spoken dialogue and very minimal action. So as you're leaning in to hear the dialogue, you find yourself falling into the story.

When the male lead observes his vegetarian girlfriend scarfing down a huge, half-raw steak in the middle of the night, that's the only hook this movie needs. Now you simply must find out what's going on. Did she lie when she told him she doesn't eat meat? Is he imagining seeing something that's not really happening? Does she have a meat-eating twin sister? The answer isn't nearly as interesting as the mystery, but the ending is just ambiguous enough to prove satisfying. Along the way, you may occasionally get a tad bored, have your head spin at the improbability of a hotty like Seignor falling for a sleeper of a loser like Gillen's character, or just get weirded out, but stick with it. In the end, there's just enough reward to make it worth the ride. May 4, 2007

I'd probably never watch it more than once.

I've always been a big fan of Aidan Gillen, so I decided to purchase this film on sale. I got it pretty cheap, so I'm not complaining. The film was pretty good...not great, but definitely not a torture to sit through. Francis's apartment reminded me a bit of Silent Hill...

This film is definitely not for everyone. If you happen to like obscure independent films, however, you'll probably enjoy it a great deal. If you liked the film 'Pi', I'd tell you to give it a shot. My only complaint is the sound; the DVD menu is loud, and then the film is REALLY quiet throughout most of the movie, then gets obnoxiously loud at a few parts, which was kind of annoying. Shouldn't be a problem though if you have one of those TVs or surround systems that automatically normalize sound. December 19, 2006

Dull

Scattered across the front and back case of this movie is a comparison to Oscar nominee David Lynch (Best Director, Mulholland Dr.) and Oscar winner Roman Polanski (Best Director, The Pianist). Notice the Oscar is front of both their names. A couple critics said this film was in the same vein of movies by both these directors. I guess I can see that, there's just one huge difference. Those directors are brilliant, the writer/director of this film Mark Hanlon had an OK idea that he just really couldn't express onto film that well. In "Buddy Boy" we meet Francis (Aidan Gillen), a shy and withdrawn kid with a bad stutter who lives with his invalid mother. His already contaminated world gets worse when a bathroom repairman begins hanging around his house and his mother a bit too much. Things change when a lady named Gloria (Emmanuelle Seigner, "The Ninth Gate") moves in across the road from him. From a small hole he is able to watch her through her windows. Fate throws a curveball when he stops a man from mugging her and trying to repay the favor, she frequently invites him over and the two end up having sex. Francis can't understand why Gloria is attracted to him and Gloria can't really figure it out either. Despite being with her, Francis continues to watch Gloria through the little hole and eventually begins to see Gloria doing fairly disturbing things. Problem is, Francis is unstable. That's evident from the very beginning of the movie, so it's starting to look like a bad remake of "The Machinist" (the Christian Bale film which is simalar, but ten times better). The movie obviously takes inspiration from David Lynch, I found myself thinking of "Eraserhead" several times while watching this movie...Even Francis's hair is all screwed up, simalar to the way Jack Nance had his hair in "Eraserhead". The problem with this movie is that it started to pick up almost at the end. The first 70 minutes of the film is about as entertaining as watching paint dry on a wall (that's a slight exaggeration, it wasn't that bad). But once we find out a little secret about Mama it starts to get good. I also thought they could've elaborated a bit on the end about just exactly what were we seeing, but I do think the end was fairly effective. I am giving this movie 2 stars, with the one star for the last 30 minutes of the film or so. It had a chance to redeem itself and almost did, which prompted me to almost give it 3 stars; but I can't recommend this movie. Really, don't waste time or money on it (rent Eraserhead or The Machinist instead), but if a friend has it or something you might want to check it out just to form your own opinion.

GRADE: D+
May 30, 2006

Awesome Indie

Not for every taste, but a satisfying film that features wonderful performances by Aidan Gillen (from british Queer as Folk), Emmanuelle Seigner, and the brilliant Susan Tyrrell (Fat City, Forbidden Zone, Cry Baby, etc). January 26, 2006

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