AFF Film Review: Scrapper

Starring: Michael Beach, Aidan Gillen, Anna Giles
Directed by: Brady Hall (“Hello, My Name is Dick Licker”)
Written by: Ed Dougherty (“Blackout”) and Brady Hall (“Hello, My Name is Dick Licker”)

An offensive, obnoxious, unfunny and badly-acted comedy/drama by director and co-writer Brady Hall (“Hello, My Name is Dick Licker”), “Scrapper” is one of those movies that will give filmmakers everywhere reason to believe their shoddy project has a chance to be accepted into film festivals. If something as staggeringly bad as “Scrapper” can get pulled out of the junk heap, anything is possible.

“Scrapper” stars Michael Beach as Hollis Wallace (terrible movie character name!), an independent scrap metal collector who makes a living by driving around neighborhoods looking for unwanted items he call sell to the scrap yard. For whatever far-fetched reason, Hollis decides to hire Swan (Anna Giles), a down-on-her-luck teenager who will do just about anything for a buck.

Despite Beach’s best attempt to keep the film grounded, the “Scrapper” script is an ugly one to say the least. If Hall’s intention was to create some sort of emotional bond between Hollis and Swan, he fails. Beach and co-writer Ed Dougherty try to write Hollis as this father-figure type character that gives advice to his new employee, but the dialogue they share (not to mention the word vomit spewed by the rest of the cast) is far from inspiring. We won’t even attempt to dissect what Beach was thinking when he has Hollis and Swan have awkward sex on the couch with each other. Without a scrap of emotion, authenticity, or real-world consequences behind it, “Scrapper” is a lost cause from every angle.

“Scrapper” plays at the 2013 Austin Film Festival Saturday, Oct. 26 at 10:30 p.m. (Rollins Theater) and Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 10:00 p.m. (Alamo Drafthouse Village).

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