Movie Review: ALIVE AND LUBRICATED (2005)

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Alive and Lubricated (2005)–**1/2

I was honestly scared watching the first ten minutes of the Butler Brothers film Alive and Lubricated. Pop savvy dialogue. Sex from the male point of view. Was this an uninspired rip-off of Clerks?

Thankfully, the answer is no. Alive and Lubricated does have it’s setbacks, but none have much to do with a damning comparison toClerks. Dedication to the characters and a better eye for filmmaking certainly stand in the face of most Kevin Smith comparisons. Where the film succeeds is the Brothers’ commitment to the characters and relationships, Seinfeld-esque as it may be. The immaturity in some of the scenes, however, does impede the film’s momentum.

Breakups seem to be a good place to start when it comes to making an indie film about relationships. That’s where Alive and Lubricated begins, with voice over dialogue that says things like “Every bitch is born with a whore gene.” I’m sure Dickey (Jason Butler) believes that. He’s trying to recover from a breakup with his girlfriend Rachael (Tina O’Neill). The twenty-something male turns to the two best support mechanisms: his buddies and beer. I’d add sex as a third, but that doesn’t appear to happen too often to any of the characters.

The story moves along like a French New Wave feature, without much of narrative at which to grasp, but it serves it’s purpose. In fact, the black and white cinematography has more in common with films like Breathless or Jules & Jim than Clerks.

Which brings me to a problem. Where as a New Wave film my have been partially improvised, adding spontaneity, Alive and Lubricated is heavily scripted. The untrained actors, including the Brothers, often hesitate in mid-conversation. Usually, I wouldn’t mention acting in low budget feature, but another take my have been in order, especially if someone reading a teleprompter appears more natural.

Alive and Lubricated does have its creative moments. There’s an early monologue by Dickey’s friend Ben, which initially sets the film apart from Clerks. There’s also a scene were the film’s baseball references (“swinging for the fences” means getting laid without wasting time on things like talking) become literal acts. Instead of actually watching the guys hit and miss at a bar, we get to see four friends with bats in hands swing, strike out, and, in one case, score. The long ball hitter doesn’t appear in the next scene

Of course, the film does devolve into antics that include a farting pizza man. The pizza delivery scene plays like a joke only the crew gets and should have been trashed. There are also filmmaking efforts that just don’t work, like the musical interludes featuring what appears to be a line art version of Dickey walking to and from his car. The film’s best moments, the moments when I can empathize with the characters and learn that they aren’t all about beer and boobs, don’t rely heavily on technique at all. It’s very raw filmmaking and it works.

The relationships that the men have and the way they react to women is what matters. I like the humor and the raunchy dialogue, but not as much as I like that neither one is the centerpiece of the film. Sure there are things that go wrong, as with any low-budget indie endeavor, but they don’t outweigh the things that go so right. If the Brothers can hone their talents and eliminate what does need to hit cutting room floor, a film like Alive and Lubricated may just be a first step toward something greater.

Alive and Lubricated is a Substance Production. DVDs are available at www.subprod.com.