Tusk (2014)

 I find it rather difficult to even know where to begin in writing a review of 'Tusk', or even what I make of it exactly. It is a puzzle of a movie. It is one of the weirdest tonal experiences I've ever encountered with a film. It's an in-joke of a movie, it's tongue in check but also deadly serious... but not. It's disturbing, and dry, and rye, and gross, and dumb and clever, and I'm flummoxed by it. An amalgamation of things born of a joke on a podcast. Writer director Kevin Smith evokes trashy monster movie's and also Bergman. This is a movie about a guy (Michael Parks) who turns another guy (Justin Long) into a rough surgical approximation of a walrus. Haley Joel Osment is also in this, as is an uncredited Johnny Depp. It's just so weird and awful but it stays with you, it's a like a bad dream. There are long dialogue sequences that are impressive if odd, and some stylized flashback sequences and everything is done on a tight budget but looks probably better then it should. This whole movie is probably better then it should be and I don't know how to process my disbelief and revulsion with a sense of appreciation for it's boldness and creatively, and for Smith pulling of his very ideocentric vision. I don't particularly want to revisit it but I think I'm gonna have to. For the time being at least I'm going to give it **1/2 which is my go to rating for an interesting failure or successful trash, I'm not fully sure which of those this movie is yet, but probably both.