RGB Films and Media Circus provide special holiday food for thought regarding the recent theatrical release of the indie drama "Repatriation." This "night in the life of" film follows Army uniform-clad 30ish man Chad (producer Ryan Barton-Grimley) on a "thank you for your service" bar crawl in his Midwest home town. Barton-Grimley plays this role so well that he almost certainly is a former high-school stud with a sordid past.
Folks who miss this one in the theater are encouraged to look for the DVD and VOD releases in a few months.
The scads of festival accolades for this exceptional character study with genuine surprises include Best Drama and Best Indie Feature at the Los Angeles International Film Festival Awards and Best Actor and Best Film wins at the London Independent Film Awards.
This fable begins with Chad drinking with veterans; one of these men advising this fresh-off-the-bus "kid" to not overdo it by hanging around bars because he will be offered more "thank you for your service" drinks than he can handle prompts our "hero" to do exactly that. One spoiler is that Chad pays a high price for not listening to his elders.
The awesome linear narrative begins with our high-school baseball star running into his entourage from those days and finding that their lives are not nearly as exciting as his tales of being based in Luxembourg and serving in what presumably is Afghanistan. Chad also is reunited (and it feels so good) with slightly younger sister/idolizer Camille of a teammate.
This reliving of glory days that include reminiscing about Chad girlfriend Emily being the envy of every girl and the object of lust of every boy moves onto a bowling alley, where the shining armor of Chad begins to tarnish a little. He runs into a college classmate, who now is a boring family guy. This bowling party includes a woman who is not a member of Team Chad, but things remain overall congenial.
Things turn more ugly at the next watering hole; the patrons there include two young soldiers and the brother of Emily. These encounters and Chad starting to reveal his true nature shows that this guy is more Eddie Haskell than Wally Cleaver.
Chad then hilariously being put in his place by a burn-out working a convenience store graveyard shift is the first loose thread that starts to unravel the uniform of this hometown hero. This showing that the emperor has no clothes concludes at the house party that is the last stop on the crawl. On a larger level, all of us who are outsiders at such at gathering and become prey for the pack can relate to Chad being sent scurrying with his tail between his legs.
The final scene is even more revealing and adds the Thanksgiving-themed lesson that home is where they must take you in to the larger moral of this fable.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Repatriation" is encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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