06.06.06
SIFF 2006, day 11
Joni’s Promise
Indonesia
A cocky film canister delivery boy makes a bet with a beautiful woman that he can assemble the perfect viewing experience for her one reel at a time, even as his clock-racing quest to make it back to the theater hits a series of hilarious snags.
The blurb isn’t terribly accurate. The setup is that there’s only one print of a film to share between two theaters, so he goes back and forth between theaters delivering the reels, trying to make sure that the next reel gets there before the previous one runs out. The pretty girl tells him that she’ll give him her name if he can make sure all the reels for the screening she’s at are there on time. Of course, chaos and absurdity ensue.
This is a really cute little movie, with very appealing characters, tangy dialogue, situations just silly enough to be funny without being completely unbelievable, and the right amount of sincere sweetness. Lots of movie-going jokes–the “10 Types of Audience Members” bit, featuring such specimens as the cell-phone user, the dimbulb who needs the whole film explained to her, and the snob who will only go on opening day, brought much knowing laughter. (The number of references to Hollywood films kind of bothered me, though; I hate being reminded of how much we’re taking over the world.) There were more passholders than ticket-buyers at this screening, which didn’t surprise me in the least–we’re a ridiculously self-referential bunch.