Nowadays, there are a great number of films that seem to hold viewers’ boredom in contempt. So, for a while now, before buying a ticket or streaming, I have to check how long the film is. I’ve stopped feeling bad for this despite it seeming shallow. Lawrence of Arabia would be in his rights to tell me to find something easier to enjoy. So what’s all that got to do with writer-director Ray Spivey’s Storage Locker? Well, it’s too long at nearly two hours, but not grievously so.
Packer (Avery Mayo) is a comics collector down on his luck after being mugged. His fiancee ditches him as the money stolen was for their honeymoon. Now Packer has to schlep his collection into a spooky storage facility. It is run by Apollonia (Bobbie Grace) and Diana (Meredyth Fowler), a couple of sexy society sisters with an ominous interest in him. Soon enough, Packer’s fate is messily entwined with a bizarre family vendetta.
“…Packer has to schlep his collection into a spooky storage facility…run by…a couple of sexy society sisters…”
Storage Locker is a good film with a nice central plot about Packer and the sisters. However, its energy is too diverted to work fully. Whole scenes, little moments, and cast members should have been left out. That everything was seemingly left in here speaks of possible uncertainty and paranoia on the part of Spivey. Perhaps it’s that other hallmark of indie film, including stakeholders in minor roles as thanks.
While the plotting tired me out, the dialogue is strong. The hit rate for the comedy is high, and Mayo is an energetic lead. It helps that he and David Trevino, as friend Chas, are such lumpen pawns in the sisters’ games. You put a nerdy young man next to a glamorous woman, and the actors pretty much say it all without moving. Also impressive is the cinematography and Argento-style lighting. The hair and makeup keep the whole cast looking sharp, which is a definite plus and charges things up nicely.
But yeah, Storage Locker needs a half-hour lopped off it. I wish Spivey had taken the time to boil things down. All the ingredients are fine, but the inclusion of too many of them drains interest pretty fast.
"…Mayo is an energetic lead."
