René Pinnell had been making films for several years prior to the death of his uncle, the esteemed but erratic indie filmmaker Eagle Pennell. Pinnell (the original spelling of the family name) never had the opportunity to meet his talented uncle, whose alcoholism and lifestyle rendered him the black sheep of the family. The first time René ever saw Eagle’s work was at the memorial screening sponsored by the Austin Film Society this past summer following Eagle’s death. Eerily, the similarities between these two filmmakers’ movies are so striking that it really makes the viewer stop and wonder. René Pinnell’s debut feature film Hot Air echoes much of the mood and structure of his uncle’s work. Both filmmakers focus their attentions on a handful of characters, whose bluster, bravado, and endless talk mask their emotional interdependence and self-delusions. In Hot Air the characters are younger and less boozy, but they are still as full of hot air (or not) as the drinking buddies in Eagle’s The Whole Shootin’ Match or Last Night at the Alamo.
This article appears in February 21 • 2003.
