PARK CITY -- One of the hardest things to do on film is to present working-class people without condescension or glamorization. In his directorial debut, Brain Jun went home to southern Illinois and gets it pitch perfect. A family drama that is the visual equivalent of a Bruce Springsteen song, "Steel City" offers several standout performances and a satisfying low-key story that should resonate for festival and art house audiences.
PJ Lee (Thomas Guiry) is a scared kid on his way to becoming something he doesn't want to be. With limited job prospects and a family as broken down as his car, PJ hasn't been dealt much of a hand. His father Carl John Heard) left his wife and two kids years ago and barely looked back. When the film opens, Carl has been thrown in jail for a car crash that killed a cop. But Jun, who also wrote the screenplay, doesn't offer too many details and is savvy enough not to turn the film into an episode of "Law & Order."
When PJ explodes and loses his job washing dishes in a restaurant, he can't keep up the ramshackle house he inherited from his dad. His mother (Laurie Metcalf) has remarried to a cop (James McDaniel) but can't do much to help. His older brother Ben (Clayne Crawford), with a teetering marriage and baby girl, works in a steel mill as he hardens with anger.
PJ also pretends to be hard -- it's a survival skill in these parts -- but Guiry brings an intriguing mix of sweetness and rage to the role. It must be the sweetness that his co-worker Amy (America Ferrera) sees in him, and they start a reluctant relationship; he likes her but she's Mexican and overweight so he can't quite get his mind around it.
With his dad in jail, PJ is forced to turn to his enigmatic uncle Vic (Raymond J. Barry). Vic is not an easy man -- even his brother doesn't trust him -- and when he tries to hold PJ accountable, the young man bolts again. Riding what Springsteen might call "a down bound train," PJ has about hit bottom when he manages to pull himself together. But again, Jun doesn't give the story a Hollywood ending; things just get a bit better. With so little going for them, these people might not like it, but all they have are each other. It simply takes awhile for them to accept it, and Jun doesn't push the issue.
Ground down from life and bad choices, these are not souls given to sharing their feelings, so when they do it's like a frozen river thawing. The reconciliation between Carl and son Ben is earned and deeply moving. Although Carl's seven-year sentence conceals a dark secret, it is satisfying to see him trying to be a better father to PJ from jail than he was in the outside world.
In addition to Guiry, who totally sells the role, Heard does some of his best work to date, while Barry brings a level of complexity to his character rarely seen in slicker productions. To look at "Steel City" and the atmospheric work of cinematographer Ryan Samul, it's hard to believe the film was shot for less than $1 million on Super 16. The only misstep Jun makes, and it's hard to fault him given the budget, is the mediocre and at times heavy-handed use of music. Still, it's an unqualified success from the heartland.
STEEL CITY
Steel City Prods., Your Half Pictures
Credits:
Director-screenwriter-editor: Brian Jun
Producers: Ryan Harper, Rusty Gray
Executive producers: Eric Arlt, Mark Covington, Mike Gandy
Director of photography: Ryan Samul
Production designer: Jack Thomas
Music: Mark Geary
Costume designer: Meredith J. Murray
Cast:
PJ Lee: Thomas Guiry
Carl Lee: John Heard
Amy Barnes: America Ferrera
Ben Lee: Clayne Crawford
Randall Karn: James McDaniel
Marianne Karn: Laurie Metcalf
Vic Lee: Raymond J. Barry
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 95 minutes...
PJ Lee (Thomas Guiry) is a scared kid on his way to becoming something he doesn't want to be. With limited job prospects and a family as broken down as his car, PJ hasn't been dealt much of a hand. His father Carl John Heard) left his wife and two kids years ago and barely looked back. When the film opens, Carl has been thrown in jail for a car crash that killed a cop. But Jun, who also wrote the screenplay, doesn't offer too many details and is savvy enough not to turn the film into an episode of "Law & Order."
When PJ explodes and loses his job washing dishes in a restaurant, he can't keep up the ramshackle house he inherited from his dad. His mother (Laurie Metcalf) has remarried to a cop (James McDaniel) but can't do much to help. His older brother Ben (Clayne Crawford), with a teetering marriage and baby girl, works in a steel mill as he hardens with anger.
PJ also pretends to be hard -- it's a survival skill in these parts -- but Guiry brings an intriguing mix of sweetness and rage to the role. It must be the sweetness that his co-worker Amy (America Ferrera) sees in him, and they start a reluctant relationship; he likes her but she's Mexican and overweight so he can't quite get his mind around it.
With his dad in jail, PJ is forced to turn to his enigmatic uncle Vic (Raymond J. Barry). Vic is not an easy man -- even his brother doesn't trust him -- and when he tries to hold PJ accountable, the young man bolts again. Riding what Springsteen might call "a down bound train," PJ has about hit bottom when he manages to pull himself together. But again, Jun doesn't give the story a Hollywood ending; things just get a bit better. With so little going for them, these people might not like it, but all they have are each other. It simply takes awhile for them to accept it, and Jun doesn't push the issue.
Ground down from life and bad choices, these are not souls given to sharing their feelings, so when they do it's like a frozen river thawing. The reconciliation between Carl and son Ben is earned and deeply moving. Although Carl's seven-year sentence conceals a dark secret, it is satisfying to see him trying to be a better father to PJ from jail than he was in the outside world.
In addition to Guiry, who totally sells the role, Heard does some of his best work to date, while Barry brings a level of complexity to his character rarely seen in slicker productions. To look at "Steel City" and the atmospheric work of cinematographer Ryan Samul, it's hard to believe the film was shot for less than $1 million on Super 16. The only misstep Jun makes, and it's hard to fault him given the budget, is the mediocre and at times heavy-handed use of music. Still, it's an unqualified success from the heartland.
STEEL CITY
Steel City Prods., Your Half Pictures
Credits:
Director-screenwriter-editor: Brian Jun
Producers: Ryan Harper, Rusty Gray
Executive producers: Eric Arlt, Mark Covington, Mike Gandy
Director of photography: Ryan Samul
Production designer: Jack Thomas
Music: Mark Geary
Costume designer: Meredith J. Murray
Cast:
PJ Lee: Thomas Guiry
Carl Lee: John Heard
Amy Barnes: America Ferrera
Ben Lee: Clayne Crawford
Randall Karn: James McDaniel
Marianne Karn: Laurie Metcalf
Vic Lee: Raymond J. Barry
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 95 minutes...
- 1/22/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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