By Liz Lopez
Rating: B+
The 1938 night the radio broadcast, “War of the Worlds,” by Orson Wells has been talked about for generations. That is the night that entertainment turned out to be an unforgettable night by many listeners, for some believed what they heard and thought they would die that evening when the Martians arrived. Directed by Jody Lambert (People Like Us, Of All The Things, Funny or Die) and co-written by Lambert and Michael Dowling, the independent film, Brave New Jersey, made its World Premiere in town during the Austin Film Festival Saturday night at the State Theater downtown. The humor, the performance by the large ensemble cast of varied ages (by casting director, Denise Chamian) and the attention to detail by the writers make this feature film one not to miss during the festival. I have high hopes that this film will reach more audiences through future festivals and in the theaters.
Brave New Jersey is set in Lullaby, New Jersey and shot in three west Tennessee towns. It has a population of slightly over 500 altogether (not sure if that includes the cows or not), where everyone knows everyone and their business. At least, they think they know who their neighbors are until that late October evening when they start to believe they are going to die after listening to the radio. The mild mannered mayor, Clark Hill (Tony Hale, “Arrested Development,” “Veep”, “Sanjay and Craig”) does not get people’s respect during a regular day in the community and becomes totally invisible to the townsfolk after World War I veteran Captain Ambrose P. Collins (Raymond J. Barry, “Justified,” The Purge: Election Year) sees this as another opportunity to relive his past, large and in charge. Unfortunately the sheriff, Mel Rodriguez (“Last Man on Earth”, “Getting On”) does nothing about anything and defers to Collins commands.
This comedy is hilarious as we start to see personalities change when the panic ensues and the mob mentality arises. The respected businessman who brought the mechanized rotolactator for cows, Paul Davison (Sam Jaeger, “Parenthood,” American Sniper), skips town before disaster strikes, leaving his wife Lorraine (Heather Burns, Miss Congeniality) and two children in the street. The town’s lone and recently engaged school teacher Peg (Anna Camp, Pitch Perfect, “The Good Wife”) thinks twice about getting hitched to Chardy (Matt Oberg, Sisters,“Superstore,” “Veep”), aside from acting out some fantasies during the panic mode. Helen Holbrook (Erika Alexander, “Bosch,” “Last Man Standing,” “Living Single”) is loyal and supportive of the town’s pastor, Reverend Ray Rogers (Dan Bakkedahl, “The Mindy Project,” Trumbo), even though he does not believe in himself and arrives to church late.
The score is co-composed by the director’s father, Dennis Lambert, with Delta Spirits’ Matthew Logan Vasquez and Kelly Winrich.
During the festival, I was able to speak to the director, Jody Lambert, and some of the talented cast members: Heather Burns, Anna Camp and Matt Oberg briefly. The early morning conversation was quite energetic and Mr. Lambert was very happy with the audience reaction and described the prior night’s experience at the screening as if “it was like a rock concert.” He considers himself “lucky” to have all the actors he did, describing them as a “fun and supportive crew” that hung out, even when not shooting.
When asked what he felt was one challenging thing for him from this experience or process, he responded it was keeping an eye on the whole (production), yet focusing on each moment. “Will each piece work?”
For Ms. Burns, she described some challenges from being out in the elements, such as the heat, bugs, and snakes, aside from the lightning. “But we worked when we could and the energy was good. It was “a calm” coming from the top down.” She added that the ensemble cast members are actor’s actors, who care for the craft for acting and not just another gig.
When asked to describe a challenge, Ms. Camp stated it was when she is mocking Matt Oberg’s character, Chardy. She said she found it hard to hate him. During the scene where she is pushing him away, she stated it was tricky to find the tone and a painful part to do. Matt’s response was much more playful. There is a scene where they are both in a vehicle. “I know, putting a 1930s car in reverse!” He said they ended up pushing it. She then added they had to pretend they had hit something.
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Brave New Jersey will be screened once more at the Austin Film Festival once more on October 17th at 7 pm at the Alamo Drafthouse Village.
Source: Austin Film Festival