Ick
Ick
It hardly feels appropriate to spend time on the back story of the black goo that names this film, ‘Ick’, in a film where no shot is held for more than a couple of seconds. But as the latest lunacy of Joseph Kahn plays out, in the little, imagined suburbs of Eastbrook, no one knows the source of the black goo, or how long it has been there.
It is this alien nature of Daft Punks true intent that he attempts to address by calling the film a “soft rock horror” movie at the Toronto Film Festival. There’s no denying that like a giant cold white mass, this genre of “Each Body is a Woods” mystifies the attentiveness killer of so many film fans.
Only Kahn — still more remembered for her direction of Britney Spears and Taylor Swift music videos than any films like “Torque,” “Detention” or ‘Bodied’ — could create a film about vague, transient rumination which, paradoxically, remains so active.
But the driving story is apparently meant to get the Tik tok generation out of any dissatisfaction for being in a generation which has worse than their parents and to make the adults question themselves, why have they not managed to push further the limits of normality? And the consequence of this is an outraged exhortation, the force of which makes it never interesting.
The ick may largely remain under the waterline when the film cuts to year 2000, but we are already engaged with something possibly even more malign as angst-ridden emo ballads of the time provide the backdrop.
Hank Wallace (Brandon Routh), star quarterback of Eastbrook High, seems to have it all, before a knee injury suffering during a game and parting with his girlfriend Staci (Mena Suvari) push his life in a destructive course instead of making it to the college team. Things could not get much worse for him after he loses his father (Jeff Fahey) only to find himself cleaning a school Hall of Fame where he should have his jersey in the rafters.
Hank is not entirely inactive and ends becoming a science teacher. However, as the soundtrack indicates thanks to Dashboard Confessional and Hoobastank, he remains stuck in what seem to be his good days. What is also significant is that Hank is portrayed by the main character in “Superman Returns” whose career did not go on to achieve the anticipated heights after that break in the year 2006. However, Routh has been evolving to be a really great actor since the red cape was put on him.
“Ick” manages to work because of how quiet he is amidst all the chaos and how he is able to display strength and quick wit when the ick spreads into the community. He has a counterpart in Grace (Malina Weissman) who could or could not be his daughter. She has been brought up by Staci and Ted (Peter Wong) who happens to be the real estate agent that she got after moving on from Hank.
Without much concern, Grace’s friends start with the black goo that began oozing all around them, even her boyfriend Dylan (Harrison Cone). What the ick quite means is different from them and due to its amorphous nature, it allows for a softer work from Kahn who is always has a knack for taking on sacred cows.
This time, however, he has abstract problems to aim for: Hank may be struggling with nostalgia but Grace with indifference. Other sides of Kahn get softened too as the evolution of this lovely father – (perhaps) daughter bond progresses. And as the two did not know how to address each other while warding off the ick, there is an understanding of the potency in the unnameable.
Kahn simply does not have what it takes to create good studio blockbusters as the reason is clear – he has a sense of irony that cannot be found in films full of action and explosions. Still, “Ick” says that someone should have at least called him for the films about “Venom” – the symbiotic actionpieces in this film are some of the best actionpieces there is and the number of different camera shots per 5 minutes of this film gives it an amazing amount of energy as well.
As Kahn explains about the abrasive nature of this work such affecting the audience in some of the way is what he would seek to do in his general works. In the different universe of “Ick” which can in fact be detailed as very carefree where any form of response is treated as a victory, Kahn is the one who has presented the real beast.
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- Genre: horror, Sci-fic
- Country: United States, United Arab Emirates
- Director: Joseph Kahn
- Cast: Mena Suvari, Brandon Routh, Malina Pauli Weissman
