yearning for the grand gesture and the limitations of the emoticon.
2. The mockumentary is back with a difference. This genre comes and goes and Christopher Guest has already perfected its comic potential, and so, for that matter, have Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais with THE OFFICE (and franchises). The two mockumentaries at this year’s fest stand out for their determination to let the viewer fret over their status. Indeed, A NECASSARY DEATH, seemingly the story of a student film project looking for the perfect suicidal subject to follow up to the moment of the deed, holds onto its non-fiction status until the end when it pulls the rug out from under the viewer.
WOODPECKER falls closer to Guest’s terrain, playing out as a tenderhearted bird-watching comedy. However, the film’s interview subjects are real residents of Brinkley, Arkansas