Searchers 2.0

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  June 29, 2008

  harrycaul

  Obviously too obscure for popular success, "Searchers 2.0" is also perhaps too gentle and not quite offbeat enough to become a cult favourite, which is a shame because it has a lot to offer and is well worth seeing. It's one of those road movies that clocks up a helluva lot of mi...( read more)les without ever really going anywhere, but the warmth of the performances, plus Alex Cox's obvious affection for his characters and the actors playing them, make it unusually charming. Having heard that their nemesis will be attending a special screening in Monument Valley, Mel and Fred, a pair of lowly film extras, journey from California to Utah to kick the ass of the sadistic screenwriter (Sy Richardson) who terrorised them on the set of a crappy B-western, years before. Lacking their own transportation, Mel's daughter (Jaclyn Jonet) and her SUV, which is incapable of travelling between filling stations without running out of gas, are taken along for the ride.
  
  That's about it as far as the plot goes; the rest of the movie is just a series of entertaining conversations, mostly about other movies, occasionally digressing to such topics as the War on Terror ("It's our gas; it just happens to be under their desert") and the subtle difference between revenge and justice (Fred: "Justice is revenge, only with a financial element." Mel: "So, if you and I, Fred, were to kick someone's ass, entirely for revenge purposes, and his billfold fell out of his pocket, you, I and my daughter would be justified in splitting the money?"). Although an outrageous ending alters our perception of Ed Pansullo's character, Fred, for the most part he and Del Zamora play as likeable a pair of losers as you could wish for. By the end of the picture I'd just about fallen in love with Jaclyn Jonet. Quiet and unassuming as it is, I think I actually prefer this to "Repo Man"! Any movie that climaxes with a film quiz staged as a Sergio Leone gunfight has gotta be great, surely!

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  August 26, 2009

  339z

  well umn just seen this movie 4 the 1st time n think that this is a good movie 2 watch...its got a good cast of actors/actressess throughout this movie....i think that zahn mcclarnon, sy rochardson, jaclyn jonet, ed pansullo, del zamora play good roles/parts throughout this movie...( read more)....i think that the director of this comedy/drama movie had done a great job of directing this movie because its a really enjoyable movie 2 watch with a good cast throughout this movie....i think that this is a good movie 2 watch n its highley enjoyable thorughout this movie because its so funny throughout this movie

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  June 17, 2008

  jfvirey

  Alex Cox is a director I am very curious about. I am no longer very fond of « Repo Man », which I used to think was a much better film than it probably is ; I was disgusted by « Syd and Nancy » (most likely because it showed me the true, nihilistic face of punk back when I ideali...( read more)zed punks as post apocalyptic road warriors) ; and I am probably on the other end of the political spectrum than him, but I still appreciate his quirky, idiosyncratic vision of life, and I definitely want to see more of his films.
  
  « The Searchers 2.0 », which could be subtitled « The Dangerous Lives of Movie Extras », is a parody of the revenge film in the form of a road movie. It is unmistakably the work of the same author as « Repo Man » (in which Del Zamora also had a part), with its « slam dance » structure and its rambling dialogues about pop culture, pop philosophy and the occasional New Age reference (I?d like to hear the kind of conversations Tracey Walter?s character from « Repo Man » would have had with the three protagonists of the present movie.) But it also shows another side of Cox : the western movie buff. Cox himself has a small role as Bob, the projectionist, and also got Leonard Maltin as himself in a short TV clip, and Roger Corman (the producer of the film) as a sadistic film producer.
  
  Like « Open Water » and « Inland Empire », « The Searchers 2.0 » is shot in video and looks cheap, although the scenery is spectacular. But it has a great atmosphere and never lags. The actors are good (though the medium occasionally tends to make them look less so, but you get used to it), and I particularly liked Jaclyn Jonet as Del Zamora?s daughter. She is cute, a skilled actress, and I liked her character. I?m surprised this is apparently the only film she has made, and I hope Cox won?t forget her in the future.
  
  Note that the film has some strong language and references to drug use.

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• Del Zamora
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