Daniel Handler, better known as children's book author Lemony Snicket, wrote this exceptionally dark and weird story (based on Verdi's Rigoletto) set in and around the monstrous corporate culture of a company called Image (we never learn what they manufacture). A middle-aged executive named Rick Olette (Bill Pullman) acts like a barely-human first lieutenant to a much younger, ridiculous CEO named Duke (Aaron Stanford), who spends most of his time at work in pornographic exchanges online with a girl identified as "Vixxxen." Image is a creepy, cruel, insulated place to work, and Handler's script slowly reveals enough background information about Rick to help us understand how he came to be lost in such a state of affairs. Unfortunately, Rick loses our interest as those filled-in details gradually dull the story's mysterious center, and a subplot revealing Rick's daughter, Eve (Agnes Bruckner), as "Vixxxen" is more coincidence than the film can bear. For a while, however, director Curtiss Clayton and cinematographer Lisa Rinzler (Pollock) have something special going on in this ultimately disappointing flick. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include a five-segment behind-the-scenes production featurette (10 min.), a photo gallery, downloadable PDF production notes, and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a small so-so film.] (T. Keogh)
Rick
Sundance, 93 min., R, DVD: $26.99, Nov. 9 Volume 19, Issue 6
Rick
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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