Josh Holden as failing actor Scottie Johnson, comfortable in The Golden Rut

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Austin can be a great town for meeting people, being creative, hanging out – and that’s the trap at the bottom of The Golden Rut, the 2016 comedy about the dangers of settling.

Writer/directors and stars the Holden brothers deploy broader comedy for similar ends in The Golden Rut: Josh plays Scottie, a talented actor going nowhere in Austin, while brother Nick is his best friend/Jiminy Cricket, Arlo, who has a lot to scold when Scottie’s overly-comfortable life in the middle is thrown into turmoil when his girlfriend Ebby’s twin sister Alex (Laura Flannery in a dual role) rolls into town.

When The Golden Rut premiered at Austin Film Festival in 2016, Nick said Ebby “represents someone who is [Scottie’s] age, but has her shit together” – something that can definitely not be said about Scottie, who blithely pinwheels between different kinds of not making it. Can he find a sense of direction before the golden rut swallows him whole?

There’s a thick strand of autobiography and observation about the Austin scene here The Golden Rut, including a gloriously cringe-inducing scene of Scottie feigning developmental issues to get a part from a Terrence Malick-esque visionary director (scene mainstay character actor Bill Wise). And if it seems a little scathingly accurate amid the jokes, well, that’s the point. The Holdens aimed for “a truthful portrait [of] an actor in Austin” – and, as Nick put it, “Sometimes you can speak the truth a little easier with comedy rather than drama.”

The Golden Rut

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This article appears in May 29 • 2020.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.