Applesauce (2015)
Starring Max Casella, Dylan Baker, Onur Tukel
Directed by Onur Tukel
If something is created with the explicit purpose of becoming a complicated mess, then it merely adds to the intrigue of the overall product; however, in the case of Onur Tukel’s muddled Applesauce, the viewer ponders the infernal question: “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” My response to this question would NOW be, “Investing 90 minutes in this heap.” On to the show…
The film starts off with a man named Ron (Tukel) calling in to a radio show that is delving into the topic of the worst thing its listeners have personally ever done. Now if that isn’t an opening for a whole load of trouble, I don’t know what is. So, Ron decides to spill the beans on how years ago he “accidentally” sliced off a friend’s fingers in a car door accident. After Ron’s horrifically gruesome tale is divulged, we’re avalanched with a multitude of stories that people use in the strict vein of attempting to top each other’s previous tale.
As the stories subside and a little time passes, Ron begins to receive some very odd packages in the mail… human body parts (yeah, slightly out there). The descriptions of these heinous incidences are trumped by just how scummy and morally bereft the people telling them are. Sure, they seem like good ol’ folks upon a surface inspection, but their crappy underbellies are exposed sooner rather than later… and it STILL just didn’t seem to make a whole lot of friggin sense!
If you’re not shaking your skull at the simple description so far, then try to wrap your heads around this one: Tukel’s character is a high school teacher who spends his time preaching to his students about how America buckled after the 9/11 tragedy.
Look, for me to delve into all of the specific details and oddly-constructed specifics, I’d be typing until my fingers bled, and in the end it wouldn’t matter. The overall notion (from what I gathered) is that the film is a peek at how humankind is simply evil at heart, and regardless of how much sunny disbursement you can spread around, at the crux of it all is straight-up nastiness…oh yeah, toss in some dark-humored overtones, and this one is a wrap.
Overall, Applesauce is one VERY oddly put together film, and if I never crossed its path again, I wouldn’t lose any sleep.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
