Mad Coso (“The Howl”) meets The Tramp (“City Lights”) in Travis Greene’s clown-spoof-fantasy, “Guillermo.” And much like its lovingly deceitful predecessors, there’s more to the adorable Guillermo/Billy Gale, Sr., than meets the eye.
Simply told, “Guillermo” is the story of Billy Gale, Sr. (Ronald Prouty), a misunderstood dupe both in his marriage and at his place of employment. At home, Billy, Sr. is the father of little Billy, Jr. (Kaiden Viantono), and the stomping-post of his shrew of a wife, Konnie (Ellana Barksdale). At work, Billy holds the very thankless position of receptionist at a large factory called Excel Aerospace. There, Billy’s middle-manager-boss, Chuck (John Kirk), brutalizes Billy on a daily basis. Billy takes it all in stride until that fateful day when he suffers Konnie’s shrieks over the phone, at the precise millisecond that Chuck erupts at him about a missing package. Only then, does the previously suicidal victim turn vigilante and all tables are turned—maybe…
Cloaked in slapstick and experimental-narrative, there’s no doubt that “Guillermo” is a complex movie. And as such, its constant flashbacks, fast-forwards, and various other complicated devices may prove too much for those viewers expecting a straightforward comedy. However, for those connoisseurs of discriminating cinematic-taste, “Guillermo” is abundant in identity-theory, socio-political deconstruction, revolution, and the restoration of a highly elaborate social order. In other words, Travis Greene’s 30-minute fun-flick isn’t necessarily what it seems.
Now if that’s not the epitome of independent film at its finest, I have no idea what is.
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