That '90s Uplift: Karate Kid

BUFFALO '66 (1998) (A-minus) - Vincent Gallo's dynamic debut as a writer-director still sizzles two decades after its release. For his cinematic splash, he plays Billy Brown, a sad sack who has just been released from prison (and, in the first 10 minutes of the film, needs to take a wicked piss) and endeavors to put a positive spin on his life as he prepares to visit his crazy parents in Buffalo. So, of course, he essentially kidnaps a young woman, Layla (Christina Ricci), who accompanies him to Buffalo to pretend to be his lovely wife. (Lines were blurrier then, kids.)

Gallo's greaseball is profoundly off, and when you meet his parents, Jimmy and Jan -- Ben Gazzara and Anjelica Houston, as deadpan and disturbing as one could hope for -- you understand why. His mom is obsessed with and haunted by a fictionalized version of the Buffalo Bills' AFL championship loss that year, an event that traumatized Billy the child and which lingers to the present day.

Gallo freestyles as a director, using fantasy sequences and elements of absurdism to acquaint us with Billy's scattered thoughts. He is obviously paying homage to Cassavetes ("Husbands" in particular) and that improvisational macho street style. (Gazzara is the obvious link.) Unfortunately, Gallo's momentum would crash five years later when his pornographic "The Brown Bunny" cast him out of favor; he has directed only one obscure feature since.)

Gallo the actor is a force of nature, and Ricci matches him stride for stride. Their scene inside a photo booth -- "Just look like we're a married couple, spanning time" -- is magical. We hurt for and with Billy. He's frightening and compelling. By the end of this nightmare, we are wrung out.

BONUS TRACK
The trailer: