The Joint hosts a screening of ‘Antiquities’
It’s hard to imagine it has been five whole years since Daniel Campbell’s Arkansas-made “Antiquities” was released.
To commemorate this anniversary there will be a special screening held at The Joint in North Little Rock, as part of their new film series which is being hosted by Andrew Sweatman’s snob-free podcast, Arthouse Garage. The screening will be April 19 with Campbell and the film’s co-writer Graham Gordy slated to have a Q&A following the film. Since it has been five years since I have last seen the film, I thought I would take it upon myself to give this not so antique of a film a revisit.
“Antiquities” presents the ageold plot of a depressed, loner of a guy going back to his home town to try to rediscover himself while falling in love with an eccentric local with her own baggage. This type of story has been told many times over the years in films like “Garden State,” “Elizabethtown” and one of my genre favorites, “Lonesome Jim.” So what sets “Antiquities” apart from these other movies? The short answer is the gorgeous southern setting along with some memorable side characters that spout out humorous dialogue that’s been expertly crafted by Campbell and Gordy.
Andrew West plays Walt, the sad loner, who comes back to his hometown shortly after the death of his father. He feels like he never truly understood his alcoholic father, and to better understand the dead man, Walt finds himself living in his dad’s old house, going through his dad’s old things, and even working at this dad’s old job at the local junk … I mean, “antiques” shop. West is then quickly introduced to a barrage of quirky vendors who occupy the store. There’s the woman behind the counter that is obsessed with getting plastic surgery and has no filter when talking about how lop
sided her breasts are, there’s the vendor (played by Gordy doing his best Christopher Guest impression) who has re-created his booth to look like his childhood living room during Christmas, and there’s the boss’ son, a real jerk, who makes dioramas of the Civil War (except in his version the South wins all the battles).
Walt quickly becomes infatuated with Ellie (Ashley Green), one of the vendors who has a pottery booth in the junk shop. Ellie is the type of eccentric girl who thinks a good date is going out to play bingo with your Memaw, or breaking into an amusement park, or even a night out at the local strip joint. Ellie and her antics slowly allow Walt to shed his sour depressed disposition, until it’s revealed later in the film that Walt’s father may have caused the death of Ellie’s brother in a drunken driving wreck. Thus drama ensues.
“Antiquities” is a slightly deceptive film. Stylistically it’s shot in a very high key fashion, almost looking like a ’90s Farrelly brothers’ film. But instead of being over the top and crude for the sake of being crude, there’s a nice grounded poignancy within the dialogue of the film that becomes thought provoking while still remaining irreverently funny.
For example, the owner of the store tells Walt, “Have I ever told you the parables about the scorpion and the turtle?”
“No,” Walt replies. “The turtle should never trust the scorpion.”
After a very long awkward pause, Walt finally says, “I’m not totally sure you understand parables.”
His boss replies, “I’m not totally sure you understand scorpions.”
There’s just something nice and cozy about clever dialogue when it’s done well like this.
The supporting cast also shines in the film. Each character actor is given his or her time to chew up the scenery and deliver performances that make the antique store look more like an insane asylum. And there’s a wide range of colorful supporting characters like Walt’s overly happy and enthusiastic aunt and uncle that tries to get him to come work at the local Piggly Wiggly as well as bizarre bit characters like the overly sexual Hibachi cook. This makes the world of the film feel fresh and fully imagined, and that’s a good thing since the main story arc is a bit mundane and predictable.
But the best thing about being an Arkansan and watching this film is spotting all the locations and all the extras in the background that I know personally. Even looking at the names of the crew members rolling by in the end credits was exciting. I felt like that meme of Leo DiCaprio from “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” where he’s pointing at his TV set. You get to see familiar places like the Argenta district and Eureka Springs, and you get to see familiar faces like the great Natalie Canerday and even Academy Award-winner Mary Steenburgen, who plays a psychiatrist who owns a back-talking support parrot.
“Antiquities” is a strange movie with a lot of heart. And it’s a film that every Arkansan should watch at least once just to see how photogenic the natural state is. For more information, visit TheJointArgenta.com