by Bill Blake
Len (played by Rhys Ifans) is an ageing rock legend taking time off from being a decent human being in his personal fortress of solitude – a large house and farm in upstate New York. His only companion is William, a teenager from the nearby town he pays to do odd jobs.
Len’s isolation (and enjoyment of Blackadder and The Sweeney on DVD) is interrupted when he is forced to take responsibility for two unwelcome visitors, Max and Zoe.
Max (Jack Kilmer) is Len’s son, who has dropped out of college to pursue his musical dreams with a hipster band from Brooklyn. He has a demo tape and wants his dad, a former punk rocker and now a big-time producer, to hear it.
Zoe (Juno Temple) is a troubled young pop star made famous – and recently humiliated in public – by Len.
Len and Company isn’t a plot driven film. The focus is on character and on Max, a privileged kid who’s had everything handed to him on a plate and struggles to prove the worth of anything he does to a dad who started out with nothing.
Putting aside the relentless stream of profanity, it’s a fairly flat film, the only real highs and lows coming from Len’s frustration with Max (“You’re like a diet drink, all the danger’s been taken out of you!”), Zoe’s overdose, and a late-in-the-piece visit from an obsessed fan.
I’d give Len and Company 7/10.
(ages 15 and over)
American Essentials Film Festival
screening from 9 May nationally
