Rent Schizopolis (1996)

American Psycho's Day Off - Schizopolis review by Count Otto Black

If your perception of Steven Soderbergh's work is based on the "Ocean's Eleven" franchise and other formulaic blockbusters, this extraordinary film will come as a real surprise, though perhaps less of one if you remember his earliest movies, such as "Sex, Lies and Videotape". And if the slick, glossy, mega-budget heist thrillers Soderbergh is best known for are what floats your boat, you'll hate it!

If, on the other hand, you're interested in finding out what happens when a successful graduate of the Hollywood sausage machine temporarily abandons mainstream moviemaking and the enormous budgets that go with it to make exactly the kind of film he wants to without having to compromise his vision in any way, this is a must-see. Its cut-price aesthetics and irrepressible energy resemble the kind of film that gets young directors noticed in the first place - "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" springs to mind - but since it was the work of somebody who had already made the big time, it didn't have to be aimed at any target demographic whatsoever. Which is just as well, since baffled audiences stayed away in droves and it grossed about $10,000.

Loosely revolving around the lives of executives working for a huge corporation promoting the quasi-religious lifestyle management system Eventualism, which, though it's never properly defined, is an obvious parody of Scientology, the film follows, in a meandering fashion with numerous bizarre detours, the misadventures of a stressed-out and terminally dysfunctional office drone in a failing marriage (played by the director with everything turned up to eleven), who is surprised to discover that he is somehow two physically identical but otherwise very different people at the same time, a quality which is eventually revealed not to be unique to him.

Is this what Eventualism is supposed to be all about? Perhaps, though since Eventualism doesn't really exist, what its philosophy might or might not be doesn't much matter. What matters is a scathing satire of the American corporate lifestyle resembling a cross between "American Psycho", which in 1996 was a best-selling book but not yet a film, and David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive", which wasn't made until 2002, seasoned with the lowbrow lunacy of "The Kentucky Fried Movie". In their saner moments, the characters obsessively worry about a rumoured corporate spy who they all suspect each other of being. At other times they speak in clichés, foreign languages and gibberish, or switch identities with their doppelgangers, without anybody else noticing. One character breaks the fourth wall and abusively storms out of the movie into a parallel plot-strand that made him a better offer. And so on.

What's really going on? Darned if I know! This is definitely a "Marmite movie" you'll either love or hate. But even if it's not your cup of tea at all, it's encouraging to see a major Hollywood director proving that he can still make completely original films when he's given the chance. So what if it lost money? With a budget of less than 0.1% of what big studios spend on generic cash-cows about men in tights punching robots, it's the kind of risk they could afford to take all the time. I wish they would.