The long run

“Ned Rifle” feels like a shell of Hartley’s former glory

Hal Hartley hit the auteur sweet spot at the right time. Emerging from the same late ‘80s tsunami that begat such filmmakers as Wayne Wang, Jim Jarmusch and Stephen Soderbergh, Hartley’s films (including standouts like “The Unbelievable Truth,” “Trust” and “Simple Men”) helped to define the second New Wave of American independent cinema.

Hartley’s pinnacle came with 1998’s epic myth, “Henry Fool.” Simon Grim (James Urbaniak), an introverted garbage man from Queens, meets a Faustian degenerate called Henry Fool (Thomas Jay Ryan) who inspires him to write a poem that throws society into spasms and turns Simon into a Pulitzer Prize-winning literary rock star. Because that happens.

The charms of “Henry Fool” are difficult to describe, mainly because of the “you had to be there” element of watching it on IFC at 2 a.m. in the late ‘90s. But it is the most Hal Hartley of his films in the same sense that “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is the most Wes Anderson. Both deadpan comedic melodramas have arch and endlessly quotable dialogue (“Look, Simon, I made love to your mother about half an hour ago, and now I’m beginning to think that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea.”), and the visual aesthetics tend toward detailed and signature compositions.  Which is another way of saying that many would consider both of them pretentious horseshit. Whether they inspire love or indifference, they take a certain kind of fan—though Hartley has never come close to enjoying Anderson’s level of recognition.

Cult affection for “Henry Fool” spawned a second film, 2006’s “Fay Grim.” This one finds Simon’s sister (Parker Posey) enlisted by the CIA to find her husband, Henry, while protecting their son from the first film, Ned (Liam Aiken), from international espionage and intrigue. It’s a weird left turn, but one I enjoyed. Posey coming to the fore adds a nice arc, and the return of most of the actors from “Henry Fool” eight years later lends a time-hopping Linklater vibe to the proceedings. What makes it work, despite the convoluted, noir plotting, is the actors staying true to their characters. But the feeling of a cosmic fable is gone. The novelistic scope is traded for something closer to a wryly atypical thriller.

Nine years later, Hartley completes his unlikely trilogy with “Ned Rifle.” Unfortunately, the film also completes a trajectory of diminished returns.

After the events of “Fay Grim,” Fay (Posey) is secretly imprisoned for treason. Her son, Ned (Aiken) is left to live as a semi-orphan in witness protection with a Catholic priest (Martin Donovan) and his family. Ned becomes intensely devout and remains chaste despite the flirtations of the priest’s daughter. When Fay is transferred stateside, Ned—learning that his mother is still alive—determines to find his father and kill him for ruining Fay’s life.

He goes to his uncle Simon (Urbaniak), who has given up on poetry to do stand-up comedy, for clues to Henry’s whereabouts. Ned inadvertently meets one of Simon’s obsessive poetry fans, Susan (Aubrey Plaza). Hiding a dark secret, she latches on to Ned and winds up with him on the road West in search of Henry Fool. 

Hartley admirably broke away from “Henry Fool” with “Fay Grim.” The film retained his trademark dense, rapid-fire dialogue while expanding on the mythology if his characters. Tying in the first film’s mysterious ‘confessions’ (the literary equivalent of the suitcase in “Pulp Fiction”) as a catalyst for its cloak and dagger plot felt somewhat inspired.    

That inspiration is mostly absent from “Ned Rifle.” The biggest letdown is the insignificance of the story, which is basically meant to tie together one event from the first film (I’d rather avoid giving up its only worthwhile, morally-fucked-up spoiler).  

“Ned Rifle” was funded in part by a Kickstarter campaign, and it sort of feels like fan service—right down to mirrored quotes and situations from the first film. It struggles with a way to imbue the story with the satirical themes concerning religion, liberal politics, familial morality and literature that always lent a funny, matter-of-fact depth to the best of Hartley’s work. Here, they strike glancing comedic blows. Worse, he doesn’t advance his characters any meaningful way.      

Posey feels out of sync as Fay, particularly after she owned the role in the previous film. Urbaniak seems equally adrift. Aiken comes off flat, which is usually a trademark device for Hartley but for whatever reason becomes distracting. The one-note nature of Ned’s character doesn’t help—but perhaps I was just hoping he’d be a bit more like his old man. Aside from Thomas Jay Ryan and Aubrey Plaza, the performances feel either weirdly uninhabited or perfunctory. Though it was cool to see Martin Donovan, Bill Sage, Robert John Burke and Karen Sillas again (in cameos), everything about “Ned Rifle” feels briefly sketched, as if the film itself is something of a cameo, coasting on an inherent goodwill that only exists if you were already a fan.

That shouldn’t dissuade completest-types, or anyone with a yen to explore the filmography of a true American indie icon. “Ned Rifle” isn’t Hartley at his best, but his best is still out there. 

“Ned Rifle” is available exclusively at Vimeo.com. “Henry Fool” is available for rent or purchase at www.youtube.com.

For more recent film reviews from Joe, check out his takes on "It Follows" and "What We Do in the Shadows."