The interviews with Paul Reubens here reminded me most of Maximilian Schell's "Marlene", wherein Dietrich refuses to be filmed and repeatedly refuses to answer an increasingly frustrated Schell's questions. Reubens is less prickly but his suspicions are understandable: he's simply too media savvy and understands the form. As it is, this is a moving and revealing insight, even if the subject is reticent to say too much. But as has been pointed out elsewhere, that's rather fitting.
Straddling the worlds of New Queer Cinema, underground filmmaking and poetic realism, this debut feature is amateurish in many ways. But it's zero budget chutzpah, artful aspirations and overall indie spirit make it the kind of American independent film we see little of anymore.
Only just got round to this: memed and gifed to death, this feels like it was intended as a dark 80s yuppie critique but through the sheer bravado of Cage's performance it became the manic, feverish, broad horror-comedy it is. Picturing any other actor in the lead is imagining a completely different film.
