What's Next On My List? Pawn Shop Chronicles

 As per tradition, every year I try to look at one of Paul Walker's films, missing him dearly still, and I am slowly but surely running out of films from his filmography that I had never seen. There are some works from his early years where he barely had any big scenes. There are some where he's quite young, he started out as a young actor, but thankfully I still have a couple to go. 

Pawn Shop Chronicles (2013)

One of these was Pawn Shop Chronicles, and I just did not know what to expect with this film, but to my biggest delight, it wasn't about driving cars, it wasn't about being an undercover cop, and surprisingly, despite how incredibly insane this whole idea is and the whole story is, it was just one of the best performances I had ever seen from Paul Walker. He was playing with his voice, he was playing with his body, his interactions with the other cast members was lifted, he had perfect chemistry, some of the weirdest dialogue options, some of the weirdest scenes, it was just such a good time and a good ride.

So, what made this movie interesting is that it was divided into three separate chapters, connected by Vincent D'Onofrio and Chi McBride's character. People who came in and went out of the pawnshop were connected throughout the story. Gotta say, I liked that hook. Obviously, if it's chronicles, like the title suggests, that it's going to deal with a lot of stories within that area, within that state. But at the same time, I needed a bit more from the story to actually, let's say, appreciate the connections. Because Elvis's story really wasn't about anything other than getting to his gig. I didn't see much of the connection from him to the other story lines. And in that sense, it was just very disjointed from the first, which was a very short story, to the second, which made up basically two-thirds of the film. And the third one, I was completely unclear on at the end. I am uncertain about how these three were actually connected.

Now, taking them separately. The first one was about Paul Walker and he and his friend trying to rip off the person that has been supplying them with the drugs that they have been selling, thinking that they're gonna have a big score. And his interactions with his companion and just playing a good old meth head was very entertaining, very fun, unique as well. His take on the character was insane. At the end of the film there were a couple of blooper reels with him in it and they were just so insanely unique and funny and silly. It does not compare to any of his other roles. And at the same time I was very sad because then he died at the end of his segment, sorry, spoiler alert, and it was the best character so I was very sad to not see him in the rest of the film. 

Because the rest of the film left me with a very weird punch in the gut. The second story starred such incredible actors as Matt Dillon and Elijah Wood. It was just insane to see a man trying to find his wife who had gone missing and only to find her being a victim of sexual abuse, of physical abuse, having become a slave to a disgusting perverted man played by Wood, which is a very unlike character for him. And it just left this feeling in my stomach that I was deeply disgusted by. And the man freed other women who were also abused of by this disgusting man who unfortunately by the end of the film we find out survived, despite him being one of those true motherf*ckers that you would be very happy to see in the ground. And I never, it just, it got to my stomach the way women are treated, the issues with Stockholm syndrome, the disgusting abuse of it all. It was just too much. It was fucking too much. And the last story from the film didn't really give us a good conclusion to that because at the end, yes, we can see all three stories coming together. But it still was so much deeper than all the other shit in the film... there was an imbalance. I was deeply disturbed, disgusted. I just left wanting an actual resolve, an actual solution to the situation, not having seen one, not having gotten one from the story was abysmal. And the main guy, the husband, Matt Dillon's character who tried to save his wife, obviously he did not know how to cope with somebody suffering a severe Stockholm syndrome and believing that her captor is actually her savior. It makes sense that it caused a lot of damage in their relationship and there really wasn't a relationship to fix there. But overall, it was just gut-wrenching how disgusting it was and how he was the one who, through karma, in the end also died. But he died trying to save her so it really didn't feel satisfactory.

Finally, the last story was about an Elvis impersonator, played by Brendan Fraser, who was very good in this role. It drove me insane that he was in this small f*cking town and people didn't recognize his outfit. He was so f*cking clearly Elvis, it could not have been anybody but Elvis, and it did not make sense. And this town, which up until then was just a southern town with meth heads and, I don't know, some assholes, it turned into this very weird, very disgusting place where the guy who is actually proposing ideas about Jesus was the devil ... I didn't understand. And then Fraser's character sang one song, which was just drawn out and very long, and the girls who had escaped from their abuser were there. And instead of me feeling like at least these girls will be, I don't know, will find some joy in being free from whatever it is that they went through, the dude shows up and takes them back into captivity. And the Elvis guy.... the whole thing was weird. I can tell it was on purpose, but I don't know to what end. His ex-girlfriend, who was a bitch, was also taken by Wood's character, and I did not like that twist, I don't care for it, I don't think it was, I don't know, smart. But all these girls were dressed in flags, and was this symbolism that the United States is a fucking rotten, disgusting place? I don't understand. 

There was a barbershop scene where people in town were insane, and again, I don't know if it was just this Elvis character's view of the town that this was just a bit fucking weird. So the movie started off with fantastic acting, fantastic dialogues, silly but insane people trying their best at life, and just being idiots, ultimate idiots, with fantastic dialogue. And then it turned completely stomach churning, and then finally the last chapter was just weird. And I didn't see how these three actually connected. There was a bit of a running joke that one of the stories was brought on by a guy who sold a ring to the pawn shop, and then he finds that same ring at the side of the road, and then he sells it again. Ha ha ha, cool. The film has left me with more questions than answers. Now, should you watch it? I do think that for the first half of it, it's worth it. And the acting is brilliant, with an A-lister class of actors. There are these American films which are just chapters of something, and I do believe this was supposed to be one of those. And I understand if that's all it wanted to be, to be a chapter, but overall it wasn't disgusting enough, nor was it scary enough to elicit deeper meanings. And it wasn't silly enough to be laughable, unfortunately. So it kind of fell in between. 

If you are a fan of Paul Walker, and that is why we are here at the end of the day, I do suggest you watch it, you check it out, because his acting in it is brilliant. It's too bad that it's only done in the first half of the film, well first one third of the film, but for him it's worth it. This was to date the last film that he appeared in before his passing. So this one was special even for that sense. And yeah, I do think that it's worth a watch, but lower your expectations. 

Thanks so much for reading. Make sure to look around the blog for other posts, and if not sooner, then I'll see you next year on the celebration of his birthday.