International Falls

First time director Amber McGinnis directed this indie movie.
It's based on a two person play but McGinnis transcends those limitations. It's by far the best movie I've seen in 2020. International Falls tells a familiar story but the director puts her own twist and interpretation on the tale. She mixes drama and absurdity in a way that is realistic and often poignant. In the hands of a lesser director or more intrusive studio, this film would have found the time to grind various ideological axes.

This is not a movie for kids, not because of the adult themes, but because this film will appeal primarily to people who have lived long enough to have regrets and recognize mistakes but who can still change their future. This film brings to mind the Coen Brothers' Fargo because of the surface similarity of each film's depiction of the Swedish/German derived distinctive sing song vowel heavy Upper Midwest accents, specifically those found in Minnesota.The film finds some humor in those tones; a few actors appear to lay it on quite thick.

Dee (Rachael Harris) is a hotel clerk/manager of a certain age who works in International Falls, Minnesota. Dee has two daughters with fellow town native, Gary (Matthew Glave). The slightly built Dee normally keeps her emotions bottled up, which can make it equally humorous and scary when she reveals her true thoughts. Dee and Gary are growing apart. Gary's unfaithful, though Dee is pretending ignorance. Dee has always wanted to be a standup comedian. Dee thinks that life is passing her by more and more quickly.

So when a tall, divorced, similarly aged comedian named Tim (Rob Huebel) stops into the hotel for a two night engagement, Dee is primed to talk to him, learn from him, be his town tour guide, and offer Tim some special hospitality. There's a problem though. Tim is depressed, self-loathing, misanthropic, burnt out, and hates, really, really really HATES his chosen career path. Tim will tell anyone who'll listen that's he's not very good. Tim thinks most comedians stink. Tim believes wannabee comedians are even worse. Tim's depression, anger, and bitterness seep into his jokes, which indeed are mostly bad.

Tim displays subtle disdain and later open hostility for the locals. That is, he shows dislike for everyone except Dee. Tim enjoys Dee's curiosity despite himself. As Dee and Tim interact with one another they each discover some things about themselves. I don't think the film has villains. Dee's description of Gary's ineptness at failing to clear his bizarre PC browser cache and incriminating phone call history is not a "gotcha" moment of female revenge so much as it is a mature rueful acceptance of a spouse's shortcomings. International Falls is not a romantic comedy. This is a quiet bittersweet film. I think anyone who has either considered or taken a new journey in life might enjoy this film.