| Floundering | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Peter McCarthy |
| Written by | Peter McCarthy |
| Produced by | Peter McCarthy |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Denis Maloney |
| Edited by | Dody Dorn Peter McCarthy |
| Music by | Pray for Rain |
Production company | Front Films |
| Distributed by | Strand Releasing |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Floundering is a 1994comedy film set in the aftermath of theLos Angeles riots of 1992. The film was directed and written byPeter McCarthy in hisdirectorial debut and starsJames LeGros, with appearances byJohn Cusack,Ethan Hawke, andLisa Zane. The film is told as a narrative delivered by the main character John under the pessimism of the early 1990s.
In the wake of theLos Angeles riots, John Boyz is an unemployed, aimless young man who lives alone inVenice. Things start to go awry for him when theIRS freezes his bank account and hisunemployment benefits run out. John must also deal with his unfaithful girlfriend and his drug-addicted brother Jimmy who needs $3,000 for adetox program.
John deals with his personal issues through a series of disjointed and sometimes imaginary encounters with television personalities, dead relatives, a former liberal turned investment banker, drug users and the unemployment office. Each chapter bears a varying degree of social commentary. The film climaxes as John loses hope, and his search for meaning turns to self-destruction. John is finally rescued by the charity of an old friend, then resolving to leave Los Angeles and start his life anew.
The film is the directorial debut of Peter McCarthy, who had been a producer onAmerican New Wave films likeRepo Man andSid and Nancy.[2] It was shot onSuper 16[3] and was scored byPray for Rain.[4]
The film premiered at the 1994Sundance Film Festival.[5] It also played at theBerlin International Film Festival and theStockholm International Film Festival.[6] It was given a limited theatrical release in the United States on November 4, 1994.[1]
OnRotten Tomatoes,Floundering has an approval rating of 67% based on 12 reviews.[7]
Leonard Klady ofVariety wrote, "While the disjointed tale of contemporary alienation doesn’t always connect the dots, it has a raw energy and sense of fun that’s infectious. The film also provides actor James Le Gros with a tour-de-force opportunity as the non-hero of the piece. It’s a rigorous obstacle course of emotion and incident anchored by a performance of unerring integrity."[3] Klady noted that while the subject matter is "extremely depressing stuff", "writer/first-time director Peter McCarthy is more interested in allegory than cinema verite. Boyz’s situation is an amalgam of youthful travail and he is, initially, more observer than participant in this modern 'Pilgrim’s Progress.' That distance, combined with the colorful, if dehumanized, members of civilization he encounters, is absurd and blackly comic."[3]
In a positive review, Peter Stack of theSan Francisco Chronicle said, "Decidedly offbeat, and at times so awkward you cringe, 'The Floundering'...is nonetheless a slyly engaging, sardonic comedy."[4] Peter Rainer of theLos Angeles Times was more critical, writing "Peter McCarthy, the producer-writer-director of this micro-budgeted swatch of anomie is...trying here for some of the same funky, desultory poetry, along with a healthy dollop of Social Consciousness. He doesn’t quite have the skills for the job."[8]