Starring Jenna
Fischer, Chris Messina, Topher Grace By
Steve Norton
Rated PG-13 for some
language Rating:
***1/2 (out of 5)
Official Selection: 2012 Tribeca Film Festival
Currently available on iTunes
What do you do when you feel
alienated from your own life?
At least, that’s the key question
being asked in Lee Kirk’s new dramedy, The Giant Mechanical Man.
If you haven’t heard of the film
yet, you’re not alone. In fact, Mechanical Man only premiered a couple
of weeks ago at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and, as far as I’m aware,
has yet to score a wide release date.
However, this case is unique in that Mechanical
Man is also one of several independent films that are taking a new approach
to film distribution by offering itself for rent on iTunes prior to its wide
release. (Personally, I think it’s
an ingenious idea that I hope continues to develop, especially for smaller
films of this nature.)
As for the film itself, The Giant Mechanical Man follows the
journeys of both Tim (Chris Messina) and Janice (The Office’s Jenna Fischer, who also serves as the
film’s producer). Considering himself an artist, Tim spends
his time by mounting stilts, covering himself with silver paint and openly
performing as a robot for the general public. When his girlfriend becomes disenchanted with his art and
breaks up with him, Tim is forced to look for work and starts to rethink his
place in society. Similarly,
Janice’s story begins when she loses her job and is forced to move in with her domineering
sister, Jill (Malin Akerman). Jill
believes wholeheartedly that her sister ‘lacks confidence’ and attempts to push
her into a relationship with popular motivational speaker Doug Duncan (Topher
Grace) in order to fill the perceived void. As a result, Janice becomes caught between her sister’s
expectations and her own beliefs about self-fulfillment.
In some ways, both Janice and Tim
have opposite problems. Tim’s art
demands attention but people refuse to hear his voice while Janice appears to
identify most with a small plastic figurine and seeks constant approval from
others. When they take menial jobs
at the zoo, both Janice and Tim’s stories begin to intertwine. Through their connection, they soon start
to explore what makes life really meaningful while, at the same time, wrestling
with their personal situations as well.
At its heart, Mechanical Man is really about
struggling with a sense of powerlessness.
Tim’s ‘mechanical man’ is performance art and draws a crowd, yet he
remains safely anonymous due to his make-up. Janice works hard yet lives under the thumb of everyone in
her life, be it employers or family.
Even the nature of their jobs at the zoo suggest an atmosphere of fading
into the background. (For example,
although they are ever present amongst zoo patrons, they go relatively
unnoticed by those who came to view something else.) Invisible, Tim and Janice live in a silence imposed upon
them by their friends, family and society at large. They are the ones who don’t exist. One poignant example of this comes when a reporter takes
note of Tim’s performance as the mechanical man and invites him for a televised
interview. Excited by the
opportunity to share the vision and purpose for his art with others, Tim
becomes frustrated when the reporter deflects from his candidness in order to
speak about his dance moves. In
other words, despite the fact that Tim is willing to bare his soul to the
world, he finds himself muted by a culture that wishes to sweep his heart into
the background.
With this in mind, Mechanical Man also heavily emphasizes
the search for wholeness. Both
Janice and Tim are people who seek meaning in their lives yet find themselves
stifled by the expectations of others.
In the majority of their encounters with people, they are pressured to
believe that they must fill their void with success, relationships or simply
“confidence”. This notion is best
exemplified through the character of Doug. The author of several self-help books, Doug is worshiped by
his adoring fans and appears fully satisfied with himself (literally). Nevertheless, Doug’s ramblings contrast
with Janice’s groundedness, causing him to appear vapid and empty despite his
notoriety. There’s no question
that both Janice and Tim are realistic in their beliefs insofar that they
understand their need for work to survive. They simply do not wish to be limited by this view of
success. They seek a sense of
completeness and purity to life that appears distant from them.
As a Christian, it’s here that I most
connect with this story. Living
within a culture that attempts to satiate our natural human desire for
wholeness with financial success and relationships, one can easily lose sight
of their own sense of humanness, creating feelings of isolation amidst the chaos. Only by seeking a clearer understanding
of God and his relationship to our world and ourselves can we begin to
rediscover the true nature of our own humanity. It is here that we experience true wholeness, regardless of
whether or not society considers us ‘powerful’. (Besides which, that recognition of our own powerlessness also
puts us in greater position to be used by God as well.)
Having said this, it’s true to
say that The Giant Mechanical Man isn’t
going to win any Academy Awards next February. With a fairly standard premise, the film operates primarily
upon the level of romantic dramedy.
However, its sweetness and authenticity won me over quickly and I found
it to be an unexpected gem that was well worth the cost of the rental.
After all, sometimes the most
satisfying films are the titles that you’ve never heard of.
