Whitewash (2013)

Excellent but underrated film

Absolutely Brilliant!

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Whitewash on paper sounds like the most boring film ever made but as a film, Whitewash is an excellent story of survival as Bruce, Thomas Haden Church, a local snow plow driver and a drunk in a rural Quebec town who accidentally kills a man while driving his plow on a stormy evening. Out of a drunken paranoia, he hides out in the wilderness during a severe storm. In the time that he is by himself, he reflects back on the events that got him where he is. This film is absolutely fantastic. It is paced beautifully and gives the audience just enough, minute by minute to keep the audience interested. Writer/Director Emanuel Hoss- Desamaris proves he is one hell of a director. Equal parts psychological thriller and survival drama, Desamaris does a wonderful job blending these genres, filling the void with a clever voice-over from Bruce. Thomas Haden Church is absolutely phenomenal here, flawless in his performance. To be able to take a film and carry it from start to finish is no easy feat for an actor and for Church to be able to pull it off effortlessly really makes you question why this guy isn't in more stuff because he is truly mesmerizing here. Cinematographer André Turpin does an amazing job here as well, chronicling the harsh environment Bruce is in all while delivering extreme suspense in certain scenes, it is really well done and with the added snow merely intensifies his imagery here. It is very close to Roger Deakins and Conrad Hall's work. Another highlight with this film is the score by Serge Nakauchi Peletier. It is a beautiful piece of music that fit the film perfectly and if the cinematography or the acting doesn't cut it for you, the score sure as hell will. Out of the box and absolutely triumphant, Whitewash is a relentless psychological drama that uses ever minute of its runtime wisely and has Thomas Haden Church in a career best performance.

This is a film that has everything going for it - except a credible script. There are numerous aspects of the film that strain credulity, including the premise that a man would actually attempt suicide by attaching a hose to the tailpipe of his car, and then park it across the street from a grocery store (probably the only one in town, no less). The idea that a man with no outdoor survival skills could actually make it, day after day, week after week, and ultimately, year after year in the wilds of the Quebec wilderness is absurd. The concept of Church's character slowly disintegrating due to the guilt he feels because of the "accidental" killing of a newly made acquaintance, and the technique of using flashbacks to explain what is happening is really imaginative, but not new. Most of the acting is just adequate, with the exception of Church, who essentially carries the film on his back, despite a script that leaves a lot to be desired. He is perfectly cast, but the other actors are forgettable and really not very good. The music is a plus, as is the cinematography, which is really quite good. Bottom line: I'd love to see a remake of this film with more attention paid to details, something this version sorely lacked. If you like films involving intense psychological overtones, you might enjoy this one. But be warned: it's hardly perfect.

Why are all these reviews tip toeing around the fact that this is a bad movie? Anyone who has lived even one season in the winter here would know about several fallacies of winter existence. I just kept praying that Darwinian justice would take out this man. Who falls asleep in a blizzard, outside, and wakes up the next day with nothing more than a little cough? Who hides out in a small detached garage, with no heat, instead of just waiting on the porch for the family to come home? For that matter, what fool would store glass bottles of beer in an unheated garage for a whole season? What character would attempt suicide, in front of a store, by running a hose from the exhaust to the inside of a car? That was blatantly stupid for three reasons; 1.) Newer model cars just don't poison like they used to. Look it up. Oh, that's right, apparently there are no fact checkers anywhere near this script. 2.) What suicidal person would park themselves in front of a supermarket, and choose this rather obvious method to kill themselves? 3.) The easiest, and least painful way to kill yourself in winter is...in the freaking snow. Hypothermia is then your friend. (This is also a problem with the main character's brilliant idea to torch himself later on in the movie...it just doesn't jibe with the location. Let's face it, self immolation is a pretty grand suicidal gesture, usually done in front of people, to bring commentary on the cause they're trying to promote!) The main character also doesn't have a fundamental grasp of basic survival skills in the beginning of the movie (like... how to build a lean to when trapped outside, or, how to use ice and snow to your advantage by sliding bulky items - like three large gas cans, along behind you as opposed to throwing them in front of you, or, how hiding out in your house is probably a better idea than tramping through the snow. So, he goes from being this idiot one day to building himself a snow cave the next, (man height, with only a snow shoe to dig with. Yeah right, he's going to be able to dig down four feet in the dead of winter, with a snow shoe, when he doesn't even have the sense God gave a goat) the next. Even when he is a "1000 miles away from the nearest human" he manages a walk to the café to store up on two burgers, brew, and gas. Finally, driving away in the murder victim's car, when he knows he's a suspect after reading a newspaper article about it? This movie just really doesn't work. You can make excuses all you want (oh, it's really just a black comedy, or, it's an existentialist movie, whatever). Really, it's just what it looks like; a bad movie, based on bad "facts".

Whitewash is the first full-length film from Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais. Because he is not that experienced with writing and directing, I feel I should be gentle with this review, as I do not want to discourage Emanuel—he shows some definite promise with this film. Whitewash has many qualities that show he's on the right track with his career and he should definitely keep working at improving his craft. The problem, however, is that the movie has very, very, very limited appeal and I cannot see it being a commercial success.The film stars the familiar actor, Thomas Hayden Church and it was quite the coup getting him for this project. You'll probably know him from such TV shows as Ned and Stacy and Wings but he also has been in quite a few films—including the critically acclaimed Sideways.The story is set in Canada and most everyone, other than Church's character, speaks French. It begins with him driving his snow plow down the road during a bad storm and running over a guy who is standing in the road! Inexplicably, instead of contacting the police, since it appears to be just an accident, he buries the body in the wilderness. Soon after this, he wrecks his plow and is stuck—and it might just be because he's drunk…though you really aren't sure. Why he doesn't just go for help is difficult to fathom initially and slowly during the course of the film you realize that there's more to the story. This film is told through a very familiar method in recent years—telling the story out of sequence. It seems like the story was chopped up and pieces of the beginning middle and end are all mixed together. I have liked this style in some films, though I must say that perhaps this style is a bit overused and it makes the film a bit confusing. This is not the only reason that I think that the film is for a very select audience. I say this also because Church is pretty much THE star of the film and he is in all the scenes in the film. Much of the time, he's all alone and talks to himself while hiding out in the woods—and this sort of film is certainly not one to appeal to anyone wanting action or traditional story telling. Additionally, he's not a particularly sympathetic character in the film—further lessening the film's appeal. Now none of this is to say it's a bad film—it isn't. It is unique and may appeal to some people who feel like they've seen it all and want something different. As for me, I respect the project—but I also didn't particularly enjoy it nor could I see myself recommending it to friends. Instead, I say let's see what else Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais can do in the future, as his directing style seems solid—I just think the story was one that doesn't have widespread appeal. A very curious film, that's for sure and I can easily say that I've never seen anything like it. Considering that I've written over 16,000 reviews (mostly on IMDb), this is saying a lot.