Black Limousine

Beautiful and disturbing. A little like "Drive" directed by Aronofsky. Not for everyone but I recommend it. I say B+
"It was an accident, noone is to blame, except him...that man." Jack (Arquette) is a struggling composer who takes a job driving a limousine to make ends meet. His life is a mix of AA meetings, hanging out with his young daughter and trying to get back in the business. After he gets a job driving a famous movie star he strikes up a friendship and thinks he found his way in. Little by little he tries to get his life back to how he wants, but there is always something in his way. There are some trailers for movies that give away the whole movie in the 2 minute clip and nothing is a surprise. There are trailers who give absolutly nothing away and you are left wondering what it is about. Then there is this movie. This movie is so undescribable that even the trailer doesn't do it justice. This movie is both beautiful and disturbing. This is the type of movie that makes you question everything you are seeing and wondering if it's real or a dream. I am the first person to say I don't think...

THE HIGHS ARE MORE HIGH AND THE LOWS MORE FREQUENT
The film originally had the hideous title, "The Land of the Astronauts." There is a feeling of impending doom throughout the film. The music, lighting and unshaven look of our star Jack Mackenzie (David Arquette) all work in unison to give us a noir feel. Jack is a Hollywood composer who has fallen from grace. He desires to get back with his divorced wife (Carla Ortiz) and child Kate (Jacqueline Mackenzie). He attends AA meetings, was involved in an accident were someone died and now works as a limo driver.

The limo he is driving was the scene of a brutal murder where a limo driver cut the throat of his wife. Hitch (David Jean Thomas) who reminds us of a creepy Morgan Freeman, shows Jack the photos. He also collects items left behind in limos. Jack is also attempting a comeback. He has issues with his landlady (Lin Shaye) who wants a part in a film. While at an AA meeting, Jack meets the noir femme fatale Erica Long (Bijou Phillips). She is a model, singer, and actress...

Subtle, Yet Enthralling
While this is technically a movie, it is much more. The one hour and 40 minutes of cinema are sprinkled with segments of panoramas of amazing visual effects combined with haunting background, and sometimes foreground, music, and gently pulled along by powerful acting from start to finish. It is, thus, more of an experience than a movie.
Indeed, it is not for everyone. It is meant for those who really enjoy off-beat cinema. However, it is unfortunate that more people don't enjoy an experience like this. It is even more unfortunate that, as so often happens with movies that have amazing soundtracks, the music is created by relative unknowns who have no CDs on the market, and there is not even a CD soundtrack to the movie available. In sum, if you want to hear any of this amazing music again, you have to watch the movie again. But that's not such a bad thing, because the visuals come to life again.

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