{"id":3158,"date":"2013-01-18T00:30:51","date_gmt":"2013-01-18T05:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jjmurphyfilm.com\/blog\/?p=3158"},"modified":"2021-08-24T12:07:57","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T17:07:57","slug":"tiger-tail-in-blue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jjmurphyfilm.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/18\/tiger-tail-in-blue\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiger Tail in Blue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although hardly unknown within indie film circles, the films of Frank V. Ross remain under the radar for more mainstream audiences. His new film, Tiger Tail in Blue<\/em> (2012), represents his seventh feature since 2000, yet Ross, whose films have been associated with those of Joe Swanberg and Andrew Bujalski, has had trouble getting his films distributed more widely, despite playing at SXSW and other notable venues. Hopefully this is about to change. Tiger Tail in Blue<\/em> was nominated for the \u201cBest Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You\u201d Award at the recent Gotham Independent Film Awards, and rated number five on the \u201cBest Undistributed Films of 2012\u201d list on Indiewire<\/em>.<\/p>\n

While showing similarities to films associated with mumblecore, Ross\u2019s work mines somewhat different territory. In contrast to fellow Chicagoan Joe Swanberg, for example, Ross carefully scripts his films, even though they might easily be mistaken for being improvised. If early mumblecore films dealt with the confusion of twentysomethings jumpstarting their adult lives, Ross\u2019s characters seem to be a very different breed. They are less urban hipsters in a transitional stage of life than young, working-class suburbanites, who find themselves already trapped in humdrum lives and less than satisfying routines. They accept their fates with a certain resignation, yet feel stymied and unfulfilled as they struggle to make ends meet in a world of diminished prospects.<\/p>\n

In Hohokam<\/em> (2007), which is set in sweltering Phoenix, Anson (Anthony J. Baker) is an ex-marine working as a laborer, while his girlfriend Lori (Allison Latta) is stuck in a cramped office cubicle where she haggles on the phone with customers about their late medical payments. Anson has aspirations to start a restaurant or a car wash, but it\u2019s not clear that he has the necessary drive, skills or luck to make that happen. To make matters worse, even Lori has her doubts. In Audrey the Trainwreck<\/em> (2010), Ron Hogan (Baker), works as a purchaser for an ATM parts company, while the new girlfriend he meets on an Internet dating site, Stacy (Alexi Wasser), delivers parcels. It turns out that Ron hates his job, but can\u2019t admit it to himself. In fact, he\u2019s already secretly counting the days to early retirement (the working class dream), even though he\u2019s only been employed there for three years.<\/p>\n

If dead-end jobs largely define the worlds of Ross\u2019s characters, they also consume so much of their lives that they don\u2019t have much time for leisure. But the characters also appear to live in a cultural and artistic vacuum. In Hohokam<\/em>, Anson and Lori decide to go out on the town and do something, but they are somewhat at a loss to figure out what that might be. For lack of anything better to do, they end up visiting the local zoo. In Audrey the Trainwreck<\/em>, Ron spends time in coffee shops and dark bars. Beyond that, he plays volleyball with co-workers, while Stacy attends a bridal shower. The main characters in Tiger Tail in Blue<\/em> go sledding down a not-very-steep hill.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s unique about Ross\u2019s films is the way he deliberately eschews classical narrative. There\u2019s no catalyst or inciting incident 10 or 15 minutes into the film to propel the story forward. In fact, there\u2019s not much story per se. Viewers expecting a dramatic premise might question exactly what it is they\u2019re watching. Yet Ross merely has a different agenda. He\u2019s less interested in story conventions than in exploring the boundaries of narrative. At times, he even teases viewers by playing with their expectations. There is Anson\u2019s gun, Lori\u2019s flirtatious officemate, and another co-worker named The Jeffery (Joe Swanberg), who weasels a ride home from Lori early in Hohokam<\/em>. Plotwise, these all turn out to be red herrings. In Audrey the Trainwreck<\/em>, Ron\u2019s roommate, Scott Kaniewski (Danny Rhodes) appears to have a crush on him, but this doesn\u2019t lead anywhere either, and is treated as a simple fact of life. If there\u2019s a story there, Ross chooses not to tell it.<\/p>\n

Ross seems to exult in chronicling the ordinary or the mundane. He gives equal weight to what would be excluded in most other films: bodily functions, pumping gas, office rumors, a phone call from a child that turns out to be a wrong number, breaking a favorite coffee mug, an older couple dancing in a restaurant, the surprise of getting a buffalo head nickel, the pleasure of a doughnut break or eating ice cream, the annoyance of cell phones, or a bad case of shingles. Ross\u2019s characters talk very matter-of-factly, even provocatively, about sex, but the erotic pleasure appears to be more in talking about it \u2013 the possibility of sex \u2013 rather than actually engaging in the act. Any declaration about making love becomes an empty threat.<\/p>\n

The sense that Ross\u2019s characters feel trapped in their suburban lives and by jobs that \u201csuck the life out of them\u201d probably accounts for the fact that they get easily annoyed by little things. Ron gets upset about restaurants that claim to have the best hamburgers; the bride-to-be complains to Stacy about a parent interfering with her wedding plans. Chris in Tiger Tail in Blue<\/em> gets irritated by older folks who call him “dude,” while Brandy\u2019s roommate, Leonard (Baker), is convinced that reality television is making kids stupid. Scott launches into a long tirade, lasting several minutes, about security screenings of children at airports. He insists he\u2019d rather be blown up than subjected to such “indignities.\u201d “Just agree with me,\u201d Scott heatedly vents to Ron, \u201cthat kids taking off their shoes at airports equals a shitty world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ross\u2019s characters also tend to have very short fuses. Lori and Anson get into an argument over an offhanded racist comment. Lori\u2019s failure to approve of Anson\u2019s choice of clothes leads to a blowup that causes her to storm out of the house. During a game of volleyball, Ron angrily throws the ball at his co-worker Jeremy (Swanberg) after he slips on water that Jeremy accidentally spills on the court. Ron argues with Scott, and also gets into an altercation at the local bar with a smug contractor named David (Nick Offerman), who belittles the significance of Ron\u2019s line of work. It\u2019s the kind of situation we fully expect will escalate into a fistfight, but, in this case, David\u2019s wife wisely intervenes before the two come to blows.<\/p>\n

Ross\u2019s films present slices of life rather than conventional narratives. They are not easily summarized or explained. In some sense they are character studies of couples. Anson and Lori seem to be a mismatched pair. They don\u2019t have very much in common, and she finds it weird that he walks around with a loaded gun. In fact, Lori seems to share greater camaraderie with her gay friend, Guy (Rhodes) than with Anson. Audrey the Trainwreck<\/em> explores the life and frustrations of a single guy who\u2019s starting to get up there in age, but is still on the prowl, painfully aware that the clock is ticking and his prospects are narrowing. Tiger Tail in Blue<\/em> examines the pressures of everyday life on a young married couple in suburban Chicago.<\/p>\n

Tiger Tail in Blu<\/em>e feels less angry than Ross\u2019s previous films. If Audrey the Trainwreck<\/em> accentuates warmer, yellow and orange hues, Mike Gibisser\u2019s assured cinematography gives the new film a cooler, bluish look, as befits the melancholic mood suggested by the title, and which is reinforced by the jazz score by Mike Medeski and Chris Speed. Ross has always excelled at getting strong naturalistic performances from his actors, and Tiger Tail in Blue<\/em> uses an ensemble cast \u2013 Ross himself and Rebecca Spence, along with Megan Mercier and Anthony Baker in a cameo \u2013 to great effect. Ross continues to be the master of throw-away lines. If the anger has dissipated somewhat, it nevertheless lurks just under the surface, so that Tiger Tail<\/em> still retains its edge. Ross is keenly observant of human behavior. The simplicity of Tiger Tail<\/em> turns out to be a deceptive mask.<\/p>\n

In Tiger Tail in Blue<\/em>, Chis (Ross) is an aspiring writer, who also works nights as a waiter, while his wife, Melody (Rebecca Spence), is a high school teacher. As a result of their conflicting schedules, the two hardly see each other. Melody is already asleep by the time Chris gets home, which puts strain on their love life. Not only do their different work schedules create enormous tension between them, but Chris also flirts with a co-worker named Brandy, which causes him to linger at the restaurant even longer. Melody resents Chris\u2019s aspirations to be a writer, especially because it affects them financially. To her, his pursuit of writing is a luxury they can\u2019t afford. When Chris is late coming up with his share of expenses, it leads to a spat. They also get into an argument later when Chris needs Melody to give him a ride home after he has his eyes dilated. Melody\u2019s resentment becomes evident when she refers to their health insurance as \u201cmy\u201d insurance. She\u2019s the one who has the job with benefits, even though she might not be able to keep it long-term.<\/p>\n

Ross\u2019s films have cryptic titles. They don\u2019t actually describe the films they represent, but rather resonate in idiosyncratic ways. Hohokam<\/em> suggests that Phoenix is less a mecca for young singles than a dying civilization. Audrey the Trainwreck<\/em> refers to a drunken woman on the dance floor that Scott describes to Ron, while Tiger Tail in Blue<\/em> alludes to the type of doughnuts that Chris and Melody eat on the street. For this couple, stopping for doughnuts represents one of the few pleasures in life that breaks the monotony of their daily grind. Ross\u2019s films usually incorporate unexpected elements. In Tiger Tail in Blue<\/em>, the film\u2019s naturalism is confounded by the fact that Spence plays not only Chris\u2019s wife, Melody, but also Brandy, the waitress with whom he works.<\/p>\n

While this is initially confusing, a different actress (Megan Mercier) takes over the role at two crucial points in the film. The first occurs when Melody pays an unexpected visit to the restaurant; the second happens when Chris comes over to Brandy\u2019s house to borrow a CD. Ross is not the only filmmaker to cast the same performer in different roles, but a viewer might question why he employs this unusual strategy here. Ross\u2019s point seems to be that Chris\u2019s feelings toward Melody and Brandy are tempered by the situation. Work allows Chris and Brandy the space to enjoy each other\u2019s company, whereas the responsibilities of marriage conspire to snuff out the spark of romance between Chris and Melody.<\/p>\n

Ross, in fact, states it bluntly in an interview with Hammer to Nail<\/em><\/a>: \u201cI mean, romance goes away at a certain point. You displace your feelings after a certain amount of time, it\u2019s kind of like, \u2018Oh wasn\u2019t it fun when we did this?\u2019 But it\u2019s a new relationship now, and if you can\u2019t enjoy it, you\u2019re going to, you know, do what happens in the movie.\u201d The film\u2019s loopy song-and-dance number perfectly embodies Chris\u2019s personal dilemma. A curious amalgam of a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical and a John Wayne western, the scene is so playful and exhilarating that its tonal shift catches us completely by surprise.<\/p>\n

Along with Amy Seimetz\u2019s Sun Don\u2019t Shine<\/em><\/a> (which was just acquired by Factory 25) and Dan Sallitt\u2019s The Unspeakable Act<\/em><\/a>, Tiger Tail in Blue<\/em> strikes me as one of the best indie films to surface in the past year. The film will play at the Gene Siskel Film Center<\/a> in Chicago later this month and at the Wisconsin Film Festival <\/a>in April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although hardly unknown within indie film circles, the films of Frank V. Ross remain under the radar for more mainstream audiences. His new film, Tiger Tail in Blue (2012), represents his seventh feature since 2000, yet Ross, whose films haveRead More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3157,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,19,32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jjmurphyfilm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jjmurphyfilm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jjmurphyfilm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jjmurphyfilm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jjmurphyfilm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3158"}],"version-history":[{"count":48,"href":"https:\/\/www.jjmurphyfilm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4200,"href":"https:\/\/www.jjmurphyfilm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158\/revisions\/4200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jjmurphyfilm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jjmurphyfilm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jjmurphyfilm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jjmurphyfilm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}