Mark Reviews Movies: MARCUS

Marcus, Gravitas Ventures

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Review by Mark Dujsik | July 14, 2022

An actor can only do so much with the material at hand, and that's the unfortunate situation in which Owen Miller finds himself with Marcus. He's quite good here as the depressed, regret-filled, and stubborn title character, a man suffering from mental health issues, financial woes, and a family that wants nothing to do with him. Director J.R. Poli's screenplay and approach, though, let down both the actor and that character.

Marcus works a night job as a janitor at a financial institution, and he's behind on his rent, since his boss isn't reliable about cutting the checks. The first act here is a big bait and switch. As Marcus' situation becomes dire, he stares at the vault at his workplace, seems to plan something involving it with a random man at a bar, sends a text about being ready to do the deed, and swipes the pistol of the security guard (played by Paul Wight) on his way out to meet his apparent conspirators.

It's not a robbery, though. We soon learn that the man at the bar, as well as four or five other men of various ages who gather in the car, are himself at different stages of Marcus' life. He once had hope for an education, a good job, and a family, but all of that appears to be gone now. Turning the pistol on himself, Marcus is only stopped by one of his past selves suggesting that he look up his daughter on social media. He learns he's to be a grandfather, so he heads out to find Gaby (Katana Malone), the daughter to whom he hasn't spoken in seven years.

That's some real narrative dishonesty on Poli's part, which might have been forgivable, if not for the way the rest of this story delays or deflects from the core of its actual setup. Marcus' mental health problems are apparently more or less solved by sheer force of will, although he still talks to himself—in scenes that either forget, couldn't afford, or belatedly realize the contrivance and clichéd nature of the gimmick of having actors playing Marcus' psychological demons. As fine as Miller may be in the role, he can't sell such scenes, but then again, he probably shouldn't have had to do so.

The rest of this is pure formula—as father and daughter collide, only to rapidly reconcile, because the story would go nowhere if they didn't—that leads to plenty of setups for and payoffs of melodrama. Poli does occasionally handle the stigma and the cost (both monetary and in terms of relationships) of mental illness with sincerity and honesty, although the movie's vague account, inconsistent portrayal, and simplistic resolution of Marcus' condition severely undermines such moments. Marcus, then, is a well-intentioned but unfortunately misguided character study.

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