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Monday, February 21, 2011

MOVIE REVIEW
Putty Hill
The Life And Times Of Baltimore's Poor


Sky Ferreira as Jenny in "Putty Hill", directed by Matt Porterfield. 
Cinema Guild

by Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        Follow popcornreel on Twitter FOLLOW
Monday, February 21, 2011

Matt Porterfield's "Putty Hill" is a small independent drama that marries fiction and documentary efficiently if questionably.  Mr. Porterfield was born and raised in Baltimore, and his film immerses us in the kinds of people he's known: poor and working class teens and pre-teens, as well as adult figures.  The film opened last Friday in New York City.

The camera absorbs about two dozen characters, all of whom form varying close-knit alliances in suburban Baltimore.  They unite around the death of a friend/acquaintance named Cory (Cody Ray), a youngster who overdosed on drugs.  "He used drugs for most of his life," one of Cory's friends recalls early on.  Some of them think they knew Cory; to others even in death he remains an enigma.

"Putty Hill" has its strengths, most of which don't emerge until after the fifty-minute mark.  After that point is a distinct scene of note: a fixed camera capturing a tattooist applying a tattoo to a friend while music is playing.  It's one of the most naturalistic, mellow and authentic moments of the entire film. 

In attempting to carve out a comfort level with its subjects -- involved in a series of casual interactions and situations -- "Putty Hill" feels less real than it does confident.  The film's achieves a texture of its neighborhood and inhabitants, but it's the style of the film itself that confounds.  In having a tentative-sounding voice frequently asking questions of some of the characters during parts of the film's first half, "Putty Hill" distracts itself and the audience from completely engaging with its people, placing a barrier between them and us.  I was removed from them, especially when they became talking heads for the director's digital video camera.

Mr. Porterfield clearly intended to make a film about the youth of Baltimore but much of his film is dedicated to quizzing them rather than just letting us get to know them through their actions.  This investigatory filter hurts the film's own cause, undoing some of its more credible sequences.  The director tries to eat his cake and keep it intact at the same time with the documentary-like inquiry and fiction film.  As a result "Putty Hill" rings a little false.  Mr. Porterfield's film flourishes without its repetitive questioner.  The director appears to take the hint, abandoning the mystery voice just before the hour-mark.

Sky Ferreira, a relative newcomer to the big screen, is given lead billing as Jenny, who has an estranged relationship with her father Spike (Charles Sauers).  Ms. Ferreira doesn't fare poorly but her Jenny is far from the film's most interesting character.  That title belongs to Zoe (Zoe Vance).  Ms. Vance has an introductory scene and is cut right from the neighborhood she represents.  Even in her Q&A she has a presence and fearlessness that lacks in many of the other portrayals.

Larry Clark has convincingly chronicled the youth class (or underclass) in potent ways.  In "Kids", his highly disturbing 1995 film marking the debuts of Chloe Sevigny and Rosario Dawson, Mr. Clark threw the actions of New York City kids at us without filters or apologies.  The results were shattering.  There was no pretension or reluctance.  Gus Van Sant ("Elephant", "Paranoid Park") and Harmony Korine ("Gummo") have also gone for the gusto when chronicling youth trapped in adolescent strains.  The man-child and women-child of these films were mostly fictional but also convincing, even though the atmospheres created in some of them may not have been real.  There weren't any additional devices utilized to authenticate the teenagers' experiences in these films.  The actors told their stories through their actions. 

"Putty Hill" is admirable in some ways, approximating a reality, but only one crafted through its environment and not its overall substance as a narrative piece.  Some of the film feels pretentious and overdone, especially the film's final scene and the closing sequence.  Mr. Porterfield dedicates his film to Sara Jane Gerrish. 

"Putty Hill" needed more dedication to a consistent storytelling style that would have made the film even more resonant than the director shows.

With: James Siebor Jr., Dustin Ray, Catherine Evans, Virginia Heath, Casey Weibust, Drew Harris, Marina Siebor, Jeff Ichniowski, Ian Burke, Joe Mooney.

"Putty Hill" is not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.  The film's running time is one hour and 26 minutes.  "Putty Hill" makes its way around the country to several cities including Baltimore next month for one week, and on April 8 in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Sunset 5 Theatre.

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