1.19: The Subcontractor by Andy Bragen: Clever and funny

Crystal Finn

Andy Bragen

Hal Hartley

The Subcontractor

As the first film in this series originally said – &apos;what could be more American than self-referentialism?&apos; and thus we have another piece of writing that sort of exists within itself. In this case we have a woman doing a crappy acting job in return for a small amount of money. She relates how she got the job of reading Bragen&apos;s monologue, how impressed with it as she read it on the bus on the way down to Baltimore, and what happened to her on the bus on the journey.

It is a consistently funny film, while also being quite clever in the way it considers the American dream and spirit. The humor comes primarily from Bragen&apos;s story existing within this piece of his writing, but it also exists within the character and how she relates her day. She is clearly excitable as a regular state, but at the same time clearly has a tiredness to her, one that comes from being part of a system of chasing something better even though the reality is nowhere near that. Her sense of optimism and spirit of cheerful can-do, sits well alongside this as a piece of commentary and gives the piece more layers than first glance may suggest.

Finn Delivers on this well. Although the film isn&apos;t done in one take (most of my favorite films in this series are done in this way) it still works with edits because it fits with the hyper delivery from her. She gets the spirit, the tiredness and the franticness really well, drawing comedy but also having the substance in there too. It is a light piece on the surface, but there is more in here than at first glance, and as such I enjoyed several viewings of it because it was fast and funny but also pretty clever in the construction and content.

As the first film in this series originally said – 'what could be more American than self-referentialism?' and thus we have another piece of writing that sort of exists within itself. In this case we have a woman doing a crappy acting job in return for a small amount of money. She relates how she got the job of reading Bragen's monologue, how impressed with it as she read it on the bus on the way down to Baltimore, and what happened to her on the bus on the journey.

It is a consistently funny film, while also being quite clever in the way it considers the American dream and spirit. The humor comes primarily from Bragen's story existing within this piece of his writing, but it also exists within the character and how she relates her day. She is clearly excitable as a regular state, but at the same time clearly has a tiredness to her, one that comes from being part of a system of chasing something better even though the reality is nowhere near that. Her sense of optimism and spirit of cheerful can-do, sits well alongside this as a piece of commentary and gives the piece more layers than first glance may suggest.

Finn Delivers on this well. Although the film isn't done in one take (most of my favorite films in this series are done in this way) it still works with edits because it fits with the hyper delivery from her. She gets the spirit, the tiredness and the franticness really well, drawing comedy but also having the substance in there too. It is a light piece on the surface, but there is more in here than at first glance, and as such I enjoyed several viewings of it because it was fast and funny but also pretty clever in the construction and content.

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The Subcontractor

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