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GIVE ME LIBERTY
Director: Mikhanovsky Cast: Chris Galust, Lauren "Lolo" Spencer, Maxim Stoyanov, Zoya Makhlina, Darya Ekamasova, Arkady Basin, Dorothy Reynolds, Sheryl Sims-Daniels, Steve Wolski, Michelle Caspar, Ben Derfel MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:50 Release Date: 8/23/19 (limited); 9/13/19 (wider) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | September 12, 2019 Following the misadventures of a Milwaukee paratransit driver on a single day, Give Me Liberty mostly serves as a very funny but still compassionate comedy of errors. It stumbles, though, in the third act, when co-writer/director Mikhanovsky tries to imbue his admirably laidback story with more significance. In the process, the filmmaker loses track of what makes his movie significant in the first place. The driver is Vic (Chris Galust), who comes from a family of Russian immigrants. After helping his grandfather (Arkady Basin) and starting his usual route, transporting people with disabilities around town, Vic is distracted by two things: the grandfather almost burning down his apartment and a group of other elderly people gathered in the apartment building's lobby. They need a ride to the funeral of a friend, and after some pleading and calls for the young man to remember his heritage, Vic agrees. In addition to the dead woman's friends, Vic's van is occupied by Dima (Maxim Stoyanov), the deceased's mercurial nephew, and Tracy (Lauren "Lolo" Spencer), a young woman with ALS, as well as other clients who come and go (The three leads are newcomers and naturals). While Vic's boss scolds him over the radio, there are multiple complications on the route—from streets blocked off for protests (the result of unspecified shootings), to a mattress blocking Tracy's way out of her home, to a stop at a facility for people with developmental conditions, to having to put on a memorial twice. The pacing is frantic, and the comedy is in the small but relatively overwhelming chaos of an ordinary day. As the unendingly hectic trip progresses, Mikhanovsky takes time for some tender moments—simply observing life being lived among the main characters and others in the story's periphery. There's a genuine sense of connection between these people, who come from different backgrounds and face different challenges. That unity—of everyone having a story and a struggle—is the gentle core of Mikhanovsky and Alice Austen's screenplay. As Vic's tumultuous day comes to a close, the characters and the whole of Give Me Liberty make a drastic detour to the aforementioned protest. The movie, which already has lost and never regains its momentum, also loses its purpose, becoming involved in an issue it hasn't explored and trying to put a too-neat bow on these characters' stories. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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