Blaine Thurier's Gun to the Head

0 Comments POSTED: September 17, 2009 11:26 | By: Kimberley Stemshorn

For those who are unfamiliar with Thurier, he is the keyboardist for Canadian hot shots The New Pornographers. They’re a band I always kept on the back burner but never really embraced. From the question answer period it seemed that Thurier wants to keep his music career apart from his film work. He very quietly mentioned when I asked him to talk about the soundtrack that he was in fact a member of the band. It was more of a mutter than it was a confident statement. Regardless, soundtrack wise he didn’t let me down. In the first twenty minutes of the show he featured one of my favourite Okkervil River tunes. The tune is called “For Real”, an angry song that fit the scene perfectly. Almost two years ago the New Pornographers toured with Okkervil River around North America. Check out the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyHMDWvjnWU. Writer and vocalist for Okkervil River said he wrote this song with the intention of seeing how many times he could write a tune with the word “real” in it. Similarly, I think this movie possesses that angry repetition in it. You see the same scenes with the same people it in, visiting the same places times over. I mean this in less of a small funding rationale, rather more of a film of incompetence and reminiscence. The protagonist, played by Tygh Runyan seems to come from a certain, safe place—solid marriage and a nice home. When asked to go out to get a bottle of wine for their dinner party he meets with his deadbeat cousin. Basically, the big message I got from this film was old habits die hard. Thurier claimed he wanted to create a film that he would watch with guns, gangs and girls. In this case he fit the criteria perfectly. By no stretch would I call this film an action film or a comedy strictly. It feels more like a film that sets its characters up for cream pies in the face. Sitting through this film made me think of what I would do in these situations. Being completely different from the character I couldn’t rationally agree with m

ost of the decisions that were made by the two men. But on the other side of the spectrum, maybe that’s why people love films with gangs and guns. Comedy from Thurier comes naturally as he weaves it effortlessly in the tensest scenes.I wasn’t too impressed with how the characters were portrayed. I though the scenes that were sincere and serious were carried through well. The prologue at the beginning was extremely effective, showcasing Thurier’s short cameo resulting in his death by suffocation. Comedy was written in the script well but I think it could have benefited from better acting. Consequently, some scenes came off cheesier than they probably should have been. I am specifically acknowledging the two couples that represented the exaggerated, experimental affection. I wasn’t convinced of their portrayal of comedy. This film didn’t pull at my heart strings, nor did it make me want to look at my life. But it was a fun, completely unrealistic adventure worth taking with a decent soundtrack with some standout tunes. For any New Pornographer fans, Thurier was interviewed by CBC Radio 3’s Grant Lawrence a day after the premier and he detailed that they’re currently recording an album in Brooklyn slated for release early 2010. Stream the interview: http://radio3.cbc.ca/http://www.tiff.net/mobile/filmsandschedules/films/guntothehead