All the press material for the new film “Tape” highlights the fact it takes place in Lansing. Not only that but, to quote one fellow critic, “inside the confines of a sleazy Lansing motel room.”
Now, I live near the heart of Lansing, and I have to say that it’s pretty far from the ghetto. It’s not as nice as the strip mall suburbia of East Lansing, mind you, and yeah, it’s a little odd that the shoe aisle is right next to the food section at the local Meijer, but it’s not all bad.
But the point of “Tape” is not that Lansing is an awful place anyway. It’s a movie that has to be seen to be completely appreciated. This is something I doubt most will do, what with the underground nature and dirty-looking digital shooting techniques used to make the movie in the first place.
The movie centers around a trio of old high school buddies, nearly 10 years after they’ve all gone their separate ways. We first meet Vince (a high-energy Ethan Hawke) as he shotguns beers by himself in his motel room, waiting for company.
That’s when Johnny (Robert Sean Leonard) arrives. Both are in town for the premiere of Johnny’s new movie at the Lansing Film Festival. The pair were also great friends in school, but now, with Johnny’s film school pretensions and Vince’s country-bumpkin attitudes, they bump heads more than anything.
But Vince has motives other than celebrating his old friend’s success. He believes that back in the day, Johnny forced Vince’s high school sweetheart Amy (Uma Thurman) to have sex with him. He also intends to get Johnny to admit it and apologize to Amy.
Johnny has no idea Vince has made these plans, nor that he is taping their entire conversation. When he does finally admit what really happened, his eyes nearly pop out of his head when Vince reveals the tape recorder and removes the tape to store in his pocket.
It is also then that Vince reveals Amy is on her way, having made plans to meet Vince for dinner, having no idea herself that Johnny is there.
Well of course, the you-know-what hits the fan when she gets there, and Amy proves herself to be perhaps the only big kid in the room when she finally makes her opinion known.
The greatest part of this film is the dialogue. Adapted by Stephen Belber from his own play, the script has some great interaction between the three characters, reinforced by the outstanding acting of the three players.
Also noteworthy is the direction itself. Left with only a digital camera on a tiny budget to work with, the boredom that could result in utilizing only three people in a tiny motel is replaced with a certain amount of kinetic energy, thanks to the constant movement of the camera. This does get a little tiring, however, when every quick interaction is met with the quick back-and-forth movement of the camera, but for the duration of the film it works.
Director Richard Linklater’s last release, “Waking Life” has received most of the attention for its dramatic use of the animated rotoscoping technique. But this film is captivating in its own right, replacing the visual dramatics with a simple plot, sharp dialogue and some superb acting. Yes, it may be hard to find. But for those who do manage to track it down, it is a film experience not to be missed.
