SPAGHETTIMAN review

2016
Directed By Mark Potts
Starring: Ben Crutcher and Winston Carter

To describe Clark (Ben Crutcher) as apathetic would be a gross understatement in illustrating this unmotivated halfhearted shell of a man. Soon after encountering a spoiled bowl of spaghetti and a broken microwave Clark is transformed into SPAGHETTIMAN. Yes, this is that tired cliche of a man fighting crime with an endless supply pasta. Imagine SPIDERMAN with pasta instead of webs and you'll be half way there. The difference being that our hero sees his metamorphosis as an opportunity to make some money. With great power comes great profitability.

Potts and Crutcher who also share writing credits on the film allow Calrk to be an incredibly unlikeable lead. Some might describe him as narcissistic but that involves self-love and I'm not sure he's capable of affection. He is a shiftless slacker who doesn't care about himself, the people he saves or his roommate. The only real pleasure he seems to find in life is in the comfort of a bowl of soup. Dale (Winston Carter) is the unfortunate man who at some point in time decided to cohabitate with this noodle-slinging deadbeat. Unlike Clark, Dale has an overwhelming desire to help people and be a positive contributor in our society.

The relationship between Clark and Dale is what grounds this film squarely in the superhero genre. Having two characters who are ostensibly polar opposites directs the tension and plot of the film. While films like UNBREAKABLE build on that concept as a twist to later reveal the villain, in Potts' film it's clear by the end of the first act where our characters are headed and who they will become. The real question we are left with is, how will they get there?

Potts shot the film in 2.35:1 scope and in turn gave it an early 70's John Carpenter look. If you look at something like ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, a film that was clearly shot with a limited budget, you can tell the filmmaker wanted to make something that would rise above those budgetary limitations.

One of the beautiful things about independent films is the prospect of seeing something original, to hear a voice that's not echoed on every multiplex screen from coast to coast. While SPAGHETTIMAN is playing within the super-hero tropes it subverts them enough to give us something familiar but new. This is in no way a film that was test screened to death, it still has a pulse and demands attention... oh, it's also funny as hell.

SPAGHETTIMAN is currently available on VOD

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