Often times in Hollywood, films attempt to overdramatize things. It is a selfish act really; a director attempting to make one's life more exciting and monumental that their own. It creates standards for the common person, the movie fan in us all. We long to live exciting lives, but regularly find ourselves caught up in the daily routines that comprise our very existence.
This simple message is at the heart of Frank V. Ross' Audrey the Trainwreck. Featuring a rather small cast of everyday people, audiences are taken through the ups and downs of everyday life. There are no revelations, no catastrophic events. Instead, the film is full of work, friends and obstacles, all of which are reached and dealt with in a somewhat civilized manner.
On the outside, we see Ron Hogan, a youthful ATM parts salesman who is looking for a break out from the usual. Internet dating is really his only chance to go outside of the box; yet he has somehow made that, too, a routine activity. But then he meets Stacey, a girl who speaks his language. She is pretty, cute and carries a unique personality. They click from the moment they meet, and suddenly things begin to look upward for our monotonous protagonist. And that is it.
Like I said, there is no big event. No rude awakening that makes everything come into a particular light. Rob and Stacey are regular people; boring people to be quite honest. It is a snippet of their lives that Ross has opted to display before us, and it couldn't be a more interesting perspective.
The film is interesting, that goes without saying. For the first hour or so I was confused as to what it was trying to create. There seemed to be little character development as the film came across like a series of shorts rather than one large picture. But then, during the final twenty minutes, the pieces began to fit together. The true meaning behind Rob, Stacey, and their interjected friends made sense, and the final five seconds proved that it was all well worth the wait.
Audrey the Trainwreck is a title I don't entirely get, for a film I will never fully comprehend. But that is okay. It challenges your mind and puts the ordinary life into perspective, making it an ideal festival film that will unfortunately never be appreciated by the mainstream masses.
