Eye Weekly: Passenger Side

originally published at Eye Weekly:

by Chris Bilton

Editorial Rating: *** (out of 5)

In director Matthew Bissonette’s third feature, Passenger Side, much fantastic dialogue punctuates the cassette-tape aesthetic of older brother Michael (Adam Scott) and the whims of his dubiously life-embracing ex-junkie brother Tobey (Joel Bissonnette) as the pair drive around on a hopeless day-long journey from place to place through regular people’s LA. (There’s not one pass by Grauman’s Chinese Theatre or the Disney/Gehry opera house.)

Carefully paced and, at times, cleverly self-conscious, the gentle unfolding of the brothers’ relationship via an urban road trip is full of nostalgia and regret, hope and forgiveness, all of which emerge from the unlikeliest of places. Consequently, Passenger Side feels a bit like Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy if it were set in downtown LA instead of the Pacific Northwest wilderness. Bonus points for the Can-con hockey talk, which is excellently paired with a Leonard Cohen song.