LOOKING FOR LEONARD

D: Matt Bissonnette, Steven Clark; with Kim Huffman, Joel Bissonnette, Ben Ratner, Darcy Belsher, Justin Pierce, Molly Parker

Feature Narrative Competition, World Premiere The characters in this Canadian production don’t do much but suffer from urban anomie — and one another. Jo (Huffman), a philosophical femme fatale, lives with her boyfriend Ted (Ratner) and his brother Johnny (Belsher) in Montreal; the three of them rob dry cleaners and convenience stores together. Ted and Johnny are “trying to get ahead” by doing what the big boys do: rob banks. Jo, who tends to speak her mind, is already fed up with the both of them. While Ted is off at “bank robbing camp,” as Jo so memorably phrases it, she ends up falling for a mysterious but affectionate computer programmer from Czechoslovakia named Luka (Bissonnette). There’s a gun, and when it goes off, the consequences are both tragic and comedic. The ending of this Jarmuschian caper strains credibility, but the moody disaffection running rampant throughout it is strangely bemusing and delightful. (3/15, Arbor, 5:45pm)

This article appears in March 15 • 2002.

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