A Review of ‘Pratfall’: An emotive crossing of paths that mostly hits the mark
An emotionally-tarnished New Yorker hesitantly takes a foreigner on a tour of his town, leading to partial recovery and then tragedy.
Pratfall’: An emotive crossing of paths that mostly hits the mark
Cast: Joshua Burge, Chloe Groussard, Xavier Reyes, Sabrina Schlegel-Mejia, Selma Ducanovic, Lucy K Garcia, Sebastian Hagelstein, Brandon Dingle, Paulina Valenzuela-Castro, Jordyn Barber, Rob Rossi
Critic’s Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5
Director: Alex Andre
Duration: 1 hour, 46 minutes
Genre: Drama
Language: English, French (with subtitles)
Release: 2023
What’s it about?
An emotionally-tarnished New Yorker hesitantly takes a foreigner on a tour of his town, leading to partial recovery and then tragedy.
Review:
Dramas like this about the tormented soul struggling to find orientation, connection and meaning are rare. Can one overcome the tragedy of loss by engaging with a potential love interest? Or is even attempting to forge an acquaintance, and allowing it to grow into friendship, too overwhelming? That is essentially the premise of this layered and absorbing drama which substitutes abundant story and constantly effective dialogue with mystifying character definition and poignant human interplay. This, as a couple of disoriented strangers traverse two days together while trying to stay lively in the City That Never Sleeps. The film’s sense of detachment impeding amiability and hesitancy to commit to emotional bonding is alternatingly off-putting and appealing.
New York City native Eli (Joshua Burge) reacts vociferously to loving couples showing mutual affection as he walks aimlessly through Central Park and munches on hot dogs. The mysterious Gio (Xavier Reyes) confronts and threatens him for warding off potential “customers” with his unusual behaviour. Then, Eli who is recently bereaved, strikes up a conversation with a young French lady in the Park and reluctantly agrees to show the passionately curious Joelle (Chloe Groussard) around his hometown. Eli is drawn to the woman on sensing that nobody loves her, but is reticent in allowing her to intrude on his personal history or to display too much emotion. Meanwhile, Joelle introduces her troubled host to a French mantra in an attempt to put him more at ease.
Eli takes his guest to a couple of museums in the City where they make some odd observations about the items on display, which in turn invites discussion about Family. They then drop into a pub where Eli has a bad reputation, but it's a place that he nevertheless considers a safe haven. After he gets miffed at Joelle’s endeavour to open up about her own unsavoury past, the two walk up to a close view of a bridge - which induces talk about the figurative and physical significance of bridges. Eli and Joelle then arrive at Manhattan’s landmark Rockefeller Centre and take a stroll down Broadway where the topics of theatre, vaudeville and the film’s titular taking a “Pratfall” emerge. But is this laugh-inducing feature of slapstick to take on a more sombre tone towards the movie’s conclusion?
Eli slowly gets enthused by Joelle’s light-hearted antics and displays of joie de vivre. This becomes evident as she gets him to engage in a daring bet and over eating pizza with an unappealing topping. Also, a t-shirt, a toy rabbit, a sign-post, a self-help book and a sea shell all play their part in lightening the mood. However, the levity morphs to serious drama when Eli introduces Joelle to Gio and the latter’s associates Tay (Sabrina Schlegel-Mejia) and Blaze (Bradon Dingle), in a mocking and sneering manner. This indiscretion along with a jarring revelation induces a tragic encounter that in turn, causes a saddening act of denial. Though the denouement adds tremendous context and perspective to the film, some of the dialogue leading up to it seems as aimless as Eli and Joelle’s jaunt across the city. However, one could argue that the duality of the physical and verbal journey is necessary in bringing out the couple’s personalities, conflicts and crises.
It is clear that debutante writer-director-cinematography-editor Alex Andre has put his heart and soul into this effort. While extracting good performances from Burge and Groussard, Andre also pays fitting tribute to NYC through his camera lens. Though the occasional use of long close takes, jump cuts and shoddy pans may not be to everyone’s liking, these help to capture the turbulent mental state of the male protagonist. The eclectic musical interludes work most of the time, as do the bits of trivia dispensed through the leads’ conversation. Also, there is a subtlety in various parts of the narrative, which evoke thought and emotional reaction from the audience. Movie buffs might even think of this film as a response to the classic Last Tango in Paris (1972). To take a Pratfall in an ironical manner, this film shows you how it’s done.
