For a movie that esteemed movie critic Robert Ebert claimed was less entertaining than his colonoscopy and "the worst film in the history of Cannes," "The Brown Bunny" really is a movie that does little to disappoint a prepared audience.
The movie is the brainchild of independent film legend Vincent Gallo, who, in addition to starring in "The Brown Bunny," cast, wrote, filmed, directed and produced the film. He is also credited for makeup, costume and set design.
The premise of the movie is a simple one. Gallo plays a motorcycle racer named Bud Clay who packs up his bike and helmet after losing a race on the East Coast and heads out to California by himself to reunite with his old flame, Daisy, played by Chloe Sevigny. Aside from a brief discussion Bud has with Daisy's mother, the first 70 minutes of the 90-minute film is a basically a lull in which anticipation and suspense build as Bud makes his way across the United States.
Gallo does an excellent job portraying a torn, suffering lover as he meets and interacts with the three different women at separate points on his journey. The action of the first four-fifths of the movie is Gallo driving the van and stopping every so often to get gas or talk to strange women.
What really irked Ebert was the climax of the movie showing a more-graphic-than-necessary blowjob scene. It is this scene that got everybody talking at Cannes. This extraordinarily explicit scene, which is usually reserved for XXX features, is what has branded this movie as "the most controversial American film ever made," according to its trailer. And in expecting to see a scene of such graphic sexual content, an educated viewer will be prepared to sit through 75 minutes of Vincent Gallo driving across the country in silence.
After watching the film, one could get the impression that Gallo decided to attempt to get a blowjob from a famous actress by "pretending" to make an independent film and, once he got it, he figured that there would be no sense in writing an actual script.
"The Brown Bunny" is a film that's loaded with such exciting action as Gallo buying a Coke, pumping gas, parking his van, riding his motorcycle, knocking on a door, taking a shower, eating Chinese food and being inquisitive in a pet store - not to mention the 45 minutes (at least) of him driving in silence, the endlessly long sentence to which those exciting incidents punctuate.
However, despite the fact that the 90-minute movie could have been a 15-minute short film, "The Brown Bunny" was actually entertaining for a weirdo-artsy movie. One would expect nothing less from Vincent Gallo.
