➤ BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, from p.28
daughters better suited to a soap
opera than a comedy.
Meanwhile, tomboy Dodge is
spending time with Charles (Mike
Colter), the theater’s accountant,
and his teenage daughter Olivia
(Arica Himmel). In a subplot that
almost proves more interesting
than the main storyline, Dodge gets
her period and brings the problems
she has with her mother to Olivia
and Mike. The subsequent chat
she has with Jackie provides the
movie with some needed heart.
But, to its detriment, “Before
You Know It” insists on being lighthearted.
Jackie adores Sherrell,
but her mother favors the smarter
daughter Rachel, setting the stage
for sibling rivalry. Why Rachel
and Jackie get caught up in helping
Sherrell with her career rather
than getting the property paperwork
straightened out is one of the
fi lm’s mysteries. So, too, is the fact
that nobody seems interested in
Dodge’s androgynous demeanor.
Utt consistently places the emphasis
on the wrong syllable.
“Before You Know It” is unfocused
in portraying its female
protagonists. Rachel is shrewd,
yet she behaves stupidly, allowing
Mel, Jackie, and Sherrell to
➤ THE LOAD, from p.28
tended to be uncritical of NATO’s
bombing of Serbia and support for
Kosovo, and the few exceptions have
erred in the direction of “Milosevic
was a brave anti-imperialist hero.”
“The Load” includes a shot of a billboard
comparing those bombings
to the demolition of the Eiffel Tower.
Although born a Bosnian Muslim,
the most famous director from
the former Yugoslavia, Emir Kusturica,
took up the mantel of Serbian
nationalism. After winning
the Palme D’Or in 1995 for his fi lm
“Underground,” he quickly trashed
his international reputation. Born
in 1985, Glavonic comes from a
different generation. Without defending
the atrocities committed
by Serbs during this period, “The
Load” depicts the moral compromises
that made everyday life possible
then. With constant subtle
references to Serbia’s past during
World War II, it seems intended for
a local audience even if it’s toured
use her. Rachel’s belated move to
stand up for herself feels less about
self-empowerment than simply too
little too late. When Sherrell is giving
Rachel a makeover as if she
were playing with a doll, it’s unclear
if her daughter welcomes the
bonding moment or is simply going
along to get along.
Tullock offers an energetic performance
as Jackie, but her character
is needy and self-centered
and her rivalry with Rachel really
never fully takes shape. In support,
Light emphasizes Sherrell’s vulnerability
instead of her strength
— which seems the right choice for
this character — but her feistiness
comes across as forced not comic.
As Dodge, Yaffe does her best in a
thankless role.
“Before You Know It” might have
worked better as a web series. It
has an episodic nature and a few
good moments — such as a tense
discussion between the sisters in
a bathroom. When it crackles, it
makes you wish the rest of the fi lm
were as strong.
BEFORE YOU KNOW IT | Directed
by Hannah Pearl Utt | 1091 Media
| Opens Aug. 30 | The Quad, 34 W.
13th St.; quadcinema.com | Landmark
at 57 West, 657 W. 57th St.;
landmarktheatres.com
the world’s festivals.
The deliberate de-dramatization
in its tone and Vlada’s lack of affect
make our fi nal realization about
his cargo all the more powerful;
the fi lm fi nally comes together in
its last half hour. Vlada fi nally
gives up his taciturn nature when
telling his son — whom I believe
is played by the actor’s actual son
— about his own father’s experience
of war. The cycle continues.
The death of emotion might be the
most frightening casualty of war,
and Vlada’s numbness seems to be
shared by his entire country. When
he plays his son an angry song by
Paja’s band, which continues over
the closing credits, it’s a relief that
the fi lm fi nally lifts its mood of repression.
THE LOAD | Directed by Ognjen
Glavonic | In Serbian with English
subtitles | Grasshopper Film
| Opens Aug. 30 | Film at Lincoln
Center, 144 W. 65th St. | fi lmlinc.
org
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