Dark City: Depth and Dourness Abound in Urbania

Hollywood is experiencing an Indian summer. Not in terms of weather, but in the films it's releasing this fall. After a summer of lackluster blockbusters and equally mediocre small-scale studio films, the trend has continued into late September. October doesn't look much better either.

So if you're not content to subsist on grade-C summer leftovers like The Cell, you're going to have to look past current studio offerings. Independent film pickings are pretty slim right now, but thankfully, the new film Urbania is among them.

And independent it is. Adapted and directed on a shoestring budget by John Shear, Urbania barely made it to theaters. Set to open on Sept. 15, the film was dropped from its distributor's schedule on Sept. 1, just two weeks before its planned release. The film hung in limbo, with filmmakers desperately hunting for someone willing to distribute their work.

Fortunately for audiences, Lions Gate Films recognized Urbania for the taut, well-crafted psychological drama it is, and the company picked up Urbania just in time to release the film on its original start date.

Urbania tells the story of Charlie (Dan Futterman), a gay man still mourning the loss of his lover several months before. The film follows Charlie through the bleak New York streets which surround his home, cleverly setting the action on the night when clocks are turned back an hour for Daylight Savings time. It's a storytelling trick that will grow into a powerful metaphor as the film progresses, intensifying the conflict between Charlie's grief and his anger at his loss.

Over the course of the evening, Charlie encounters several characters who have played an important, if limited, role in his life. They include a self-involved and sexually ambiguous actor, a friend dying of AIDS, and a dangerous homophobe who Charlie has pursued since the loss of his companion. The film's climax is split between three brief but powerful scenes, with each adding a new layer to Urbania's analysis of loss, revenge and redemption.

Urbania benefits greatly from its director and stars, who anchor the film to a brooding thoughtfulness that could easily have been abandoned in less ambitious hands. In his directorial debut, Shear demonstrates a talent for innovative storytelling, weaving together scenes that both explain and add to Charlie's emotional turmoil. Futterman, who's probably best known as Robin Williams' straight son in The Birdcage, displays great versatility in examining the emptiness and rage from which Charlie seeks to free himself.

Futterman should also be praised for playing Charlie with a restraint and depth that are rare in most films. Though his character is gay, Futterman refuses to portray him as anything but a suffering human. In doing so, Futterman allows Charlie to become someone we can all identify with, further adding to the impact Urbania will have on its audiences.

Among the film's supporting characters, only Alan Cumming can be criticized for his shallow and stereotypical work as Charlie's lonely and dying friend. Samuel Ball does a lot to give his hateful character some depth, and Matt Keeslar's brief scenes with Futterman help explain why Charlie is so haunted by his former lover.

Unlike much of what else is out there, Urbania departs from the conventional and mediocre. Watching Urbania can be hard to watch at times, but in the end, its power and message are well worth the struggle.

URBANIA

directed by

Jon Shear

starring

Dan Futterman, Alan Cumming, Matt Keeslar

Unipix

directed by

Jon Shear

starring

Dan Futterman, Alan Cumming, Matt Keeslar

Unipix