For a film newly released on DVD for the first time, The Beatnicks proves curious and anachronistic. With Boondock brother Norman Reedus and hefty character actor Mark Boon Jr. in the lead roles, and familiar faces like Lisa Marie and Eric Roberts filling out the background, it has all the earmarks of a throwback to the independent film scene of the late 90s. Its precocious list of headliners have all moved on to mostly doing bit parts in higher profile Hollywood fare now, and the very style in which the narrative unfolds is reminiscent of the lyrical sloth demonstrated by early Jim Jarmusch or his Asian counterpart, Wong Kar Wai.
As it turns out, there’s a very good reason for the air of antiquity surrounding The Beatnicks; it was actually filmed in 2000 and is just now being released to DVD by Passion River, with a few special features and a transfer that is curiously sloppy. All of this adds to the sort of cut-rate, indie atmosphere that was once prized in by avid fans of odder fare. For the quality of the picture and sound—including a few jumpy frames—I could have been watching the movie on VHS. Even the austere cover art begs to be sandwiched between low-rent b movies and hidden on a Blockbuster shelf somewhere, awaiting curious and diligent art house sleuths.
However, it is unlikely anyone coming to this movie is going to be disappointed by the presentation because I suspect few are aware of it to begin with. I had never heard of The Beatnicks previously, and had it confused with a 60’s picture carrying a similar title. I was intrigued because of its obscurity and the central conceit involving two down-on-their-luck musicians who discover a box buried on the beach that holds the promise of their success. Inside the box is, well I’m not sure exactly, but it looks like the Twilight Zone or maybe a miniature galaxy designed on a laptop, and it has the power to provide the duo with infinite musical beats. That idea holds promise. The synopsis alone sounds like an existential version of Tenacious D and being made in 2000, I half hoped/anticipated that it would feature some of the welcome quirk that pictures like Donnie Darko, Happy Accidents or The Big Kahuna had.
Unfortunately, there’s just cause for The Beatnicks floating in the cinematic ether for 10 years. Although it will no doubt compel some nostalgic filmgoers who fondly remember a time when ‘indie meant more than ‘not starring big names’, the film isn’t original or coherent enough to truly capture the imagination. It feels strained, insubstantial and in several long stretches, downright pretentious. The actors spend a lot of time practicing long, surly glances at the camera, and there’s absolutely no chemistry between any of the characters. Reedus and Boone as the two Nicks don’t have a lot of screen time with one another, and when Reedus gets mixed up with the wife of Eric Roberts club owner, their interactions feel like avant garde community theater. Roberts, for his part, seems to think he’s in a 40’s crime drama where the guys say things like ‘She belongs to Mackey, and no one takes anything from Mackey.’
Undoubtedly, all the odd pieces of The Beatnicks are intentional, including the near surrealistic universe the film takes place in. There’s a free floating notion of what the movie is about, but mostly, at its heart it’s about very little. Like the two Nicks, it bangs around for awhile, testing out various tones and rhythms, but doesn’t have a focus or a sure idea of what story it wants to tell. Ultimately it never delivers, and I have very little idea why the concept of the buried box was necessary, or why we needed the black and white shots of a monkey burying it in the sand during the film’s opening.
There was a time within the independent film universe when a movie like The Beatnicks would be praised simply for being different from mainstream fare. In 2000 it would have felt slightly fresh, but here now, it feels confusing and undercooked. What it actually ends up being is a nice reminder that the independent art house contingent has done a lot of growing since 2000 and gone are the days where originality was defined by simply being different from the status quo.
Rating: 
DNE57DCJDSHZ
