TIFF 09: MACHOTAILDROP Review

Walter is like most teen boys. A little lazy, a little unfocused, with little thought given to the future. Walter's days are spent largely at the local bakery / skateboard shop where he feeds quarters into their skating video game and dreaming of the day when he may score the elusive corporate sponsorship that will allow him to join the lofty world of his skating idols. And here's where Walter differs from other teen boys: he actually succeeds. His self made demo video captures the attention of the elusive Baron - a failed highwire artist turned skateboard magnate - who invites Walter to enter into his subterranean empire and sign a lifetime endorsement contract. And so Walter enters into the world of Machotaildrop - both the title of the film and the name of the Baron's corporate monolith.

At first everything is perfect in Walter's new life. He has his own room. They give him a roast goose to welcome him. He has a custom wardrobe and his bashful personality proves a hit, propelling Walter's signature skateboard to the top of the sales chart. But with success comes conflict and Walter's rise means the fall of the very skater he had grown up idolizing and he probably should have asked more questions about the pills they gave him when he arrived not to mention what happens to those with lifetime contracts when they can no longer skate. But hey ... for now he has an easy, idle life and the pretty girl who manages the record room even seems to like him, so how bad can things possibly be? Pretty bad, actually, especially when the Baron latches on to the misguided idea of appropriating the land currently occupied by renegade skateboard gang the Man Wolfs and using it to build a skate-themed amusement park called Ape Snake ...

Now, I don't know about you but personally I'd love to visit a theme park called Ape Snake, but only if it was executed a little bit better than directors Corey Adams and Alex Craig manage with Machotaildrop. Much like Reg Harkema's Leslie, My Name Is Evil, this is a film that boasts a host of good ideas and a solid fistful of exceptional visuals only to largely squander them - in this case due largely to a far-too-serious execution of the film's absurdist elements and a cast which I assume is made up largely of amateur skateboarders who just aren't up to the task of performing as actors as well as skaters. While Walter has a likeable naivite to him the central performance is far too monochrome to carry the film while many of the absurd side players simply fail to find the mark. The end result is a film that feels far, far longer than it really is - a deathly situation for what is meant to be a light comedy.

Adams and Craig are aiming here for something in the area of Jared Hess crossed with Spike Jonez. With better performers and slightly boosted production values they may even get there one day but this film is simply not the one.