Directed By Joe Begos

Starring – Joe Begos, Matt Mercer, Riley Dandy

The Plot – A perfect storm of lousy news sees out-of-work filmmaker Jimmy Lang (Begos) spiral into a bender, during which he claims to have been abducted by aliens, and fearing their return, he contacts his old friend Stiggs (Mercer) to help him gear up for war.

This film is currently not rated

Jimmy and Stiggs | Official Trailer | The Horror Section

POSITIVES

Being my initial experience into Joe Begos’ distinct brand of filmmaking, the film artistically and exaggeratedly feeds that void of 70’s and 80’s grindhouse creature features that I grew up idolizing, with emphasis behind the crude direction that inscribes an immersive tangibility into the plight of the involved protagonists. With the use of 16mm film to the appeal of his presentation, as well as claustrophobic confines within the single stage setting that is occasionally orchestrated with a POV perspective, the film effectively accentuates the grimy grandeur of such an uncomfortable environment, with imagery that grows foggier and frenetic the longer the film persists, and while this same element can be used to describe Rob Zombie’s consistency in filmography, a director that Begos is often compared to, I find Joe’s adventurous ambition to be admirable on a student film brand of production values that surprisingly work in the film’s favor, instead of glaringly against it. While the aliens in question of the plot are the least imposing designs that I have possibly ever seen, their practicality, as well as those associated with the buckets of blood and amputated limbs in the movie’s gore are savagely visceral and admittedly indulgent to the interpretation, with a strong warning for sensitive stomachs to possibly stay away from queasy imagery that might prove too much for certain audiences. In addition, the set designs involve a great deal of ever-shifting detail, despite the entirety of the film essentially taking place in this cramped single bedroom apartment. As the alien invasion persists on, we notice not only the desecration of splattered blood and bullet-riddled walls that mirror the devastation from such an abusive onslaught, but also key aspects within the interior design that evolves to reflect the alien’s increasing influence over them, coming full steam during the movie’s climax, where it feels like we have been moved from the established setting all together, but instead realize that Jimmy’s once tranquil surroundings, full of ultraviolet lighting and shaggy furniture, shift out of frame in becoming something so much bigger and grander to the imagery, proving that every spare cent of this evidentially minimized budget was used to elicit the biggest impact to thrill-seeking audiences with the objective to lose themselves in an engagement that undeniably gets crazier by the second. “Jimmy and Stiggs” is also executive produced by Eli Roth, and though Roth has nothing to do with the screenplay, his influence can be felt on the finished product, distinctly his duo of Grindhouse trailers that play previously to the film’s beginning. It sounds tragic to say, but the first couple of minutes involving these fictional marketing ads were among the personal highlight for me within the movie, as not only do they command attention with the same disturbing narration that filled Roth’s original “Thanksgiving” trailer, during 2007’s “Grindhouse”, but they also involve a level of self-aware campiness that I wish remained palpable throughout the movie’s engagement, with just enough intrigue in the various set-ups to want to see these projects realized in feature length, and why not? “Thanksgiving” was possibly my favorite Eli Roth film to date.

NEGATIVES

Despite much ambition in the productive elements of the film, I remained at such a distant investment to “Jimmy and Stiggs”, as a result of a shallow screenplay that makes the plot feel like a stoner’s half-baked idea for a movie, before forgetting that he ever had the idea in the first place. I say this because the movie stretches what little material it has for the bare minimum 80-minute runtime, and while that would often appraise urgency to the underlining of the engagement, these scenes and sequences plodded on overly indulgingly that constantly grinded the minimized momentum the movie attained to a grinding halt, with little development to either the characters or the titular best friend dynamic that at least should’ve utilized some heart between their interactions. This never comes close to feeling attained, thanks in whole to some of the worst dialogue that I’ve heard this year, and one that brings a glaring resemblance to Zombie’s, in the worst ways conceivable. While the lines distributed frantically from Begos and Mercer do utilize naturalism to what I call “Stoner speak”, they’re driven by an abundance of F-bombs in every other word to long-winded sentences, and it unavoidably inspires tedium to set in, not only from these conversations that attempt to say so much without saying anything at all, but also in the dimensions of the characterization, between two detestable characters whom I never had even remote interest towards. Stiggs is kind of an innocent victim, though his depicted alcoholism enacts the worst kind of person that we’ve all had to deal with in such unavoidable situations, however Jimmy is the most irresponsible kind of friend, boyfriend, or business partner to ever be associated with, and between his abrasively selfish personality, which steps casually on anyone and anything in order to resolve even temporary hinderance, and his desire to drag his friend into his night of terror, there’s nothing about him that is even remotely redeemable, and these are the only two characters in the movie, so we’re not given periodic relief from them in supporting characters elsewhere, without any attained meaningful merit in stakes that got me to care for a single second about the inescapable plights that both of them face. On top of this, the performances from Begos and Mercer are certainly nothing to write home about, even if they naturally emulate the clouded minds of the types they so evidently are meant to depict in the movie. They’re already handicapped with the aforementioned dialogue making these conversations such a painful to nuisance to audience ears, but their one-dimensional level of emotionality makes almost the entirety of their work amplified on ten, in terms of intensity, at all times, without a shred of nuance or subdued sentiments that could’ve definitely appraised some campy humor for the tonal capacity, but instead ride a climactic registry that grows exhausting almost as quickly as the movie begins. This leads to my single biggest problem with the movie, as Begos’ direction, which practically begs for stupid humor of the corniest embodying, approaches the material far too sternly serious to appeal to the kinds of audience that the movie practically spoofs, without anything in the way of palpable tension or thematic substance to artistically justify such an intended direction. This can be felt the most during the third act climax, which has already sacrificed its biggest bombshell by a second act reveal that prematurely spoils the only thing of value to the setup, but now finds its most meaningful punch to an audience stunted within the imbalance of ridiculous imagery that doesn’t line up seamlessly to the movie’s tone, in turn resulting in a clashing for the material that often leaves the movie’s creativity, on and off-screen, at odds with itself.

OVERALL
“Jimmy and Stiggs” is an unapologetically vulgar and grimily small scale homage to paranoia-inducing science-fiction films of the 70’s that almost immediately divides audiences directly in half with its brand of morality-free characters and juvenile conversations that Begos takes far too seriously in orchestrating towards the audience. While his ambitiously overreaching direction sensorially stimulates audiences into making the most of every minimized buck deposited somewhere in the grander landscape on screen, the lack of energy or depth to the screenplay leaves the engagement inside of this frenetic funhouse of an idea feeling hollowly half-baked, taking the film nowhere fast on its way to an 80 minute destination for what undeniably should’ve been a short film.

My Grade: 5.1 or D