Country: USA
Movie Review: “Buzzard”, is an independent black comedy directed and co-starred by Joel Potrykus, who counted with Joshua Burge in the main role, as it happened previously, in the two first films of his Animal trilogy, the short “Coyote” and the feature “Ape”. Marty (Burge) is a scammer who is highly bored with his daily job. Solitary and moody, he seems a bit happier when listening to punk-metal music with a horrible mask on his face or when working on his modified Nintendo magic glove. Marty’s only acquaintance is the weirdo Derek (Potrykus), a co-worker in the mortgage company, who considers him a dangerous psycho. Irritating, video gamer and solitary as well, Derek, will become closer to Marty after letting him stay for some days in his basement, a.k.a. party zone. The funniest situations of the film are created in this space, where Derek tries to beat his record eating bugle snacks, or when the two friends fight with their special weapons after Marty starts acting bossy. Marty’s depressive state results more energetic than apathetic, however his character becomes more abhorrent than likeable. A long shot of him eating spaghetti with meatballs in a luxurious hotel room in Detroit exemplifies what I’m talking about. The low-budgeted “Buzzard” may lack some polish in several occasions but contains all the ingredients to become a cult film - eventful, depressively funny, totally focused on its anti-hero, and provocatively sad after all. Potrykus shows vision and creativity, while Burge was outstanding as a furious, anti-capitalist misfit who, in the end, runs towards a way out. Or it would be towards the following scam?
