By
Cheap Thrills
Directed by E.L. Katz
Written by David Chirchirillo & Trent Haaga
How far would you go for money?
Though not an original question, the plot of Cheap Thrills approaches the topic in an unpredictable way. It also explores the true complexity of the issue without being a preachy or heavy handed film, and instead is a highly entertaining and subversive gem.
The film begins with Craig (Pat Healy), a down on his luck writer who is laid off from his demeaning job performing oil changes at a chain garage. Craig has a wife and baby at home, as well as a pending eviction. To forget his sorrows he sets out to spend the night anonymously drinking at a local dive bar. His pity party is interrupted when a long lost high school buddy, Vince (an almost unrecognizable Ethan Embry), walks in to the bar and insists they catch up over one more beer. Before their reunion proceeds very far, Vince jumps to a nearby table when a friendly patron, Colin (David Koechner, showing an impressive acting range that we have never seen from him) and his bored trophy wife Violet (Sara Paxton), insist on buying the next round. It is Violet’s birthday, and the couple is celebrating by having a night on the town and looking for folks who want to help them celebrate. Violet and Colin are playing a game with each other, each betting the other one which small occurrence will happen next. The victor in their bets gets handed a hundred dollar bill. The hand-off is so casual, you would think they were playing with Monopoly money. When Colin offers money to the first person who can finish their shot of tequila first, Craig and Vince get pulled in to their little game.
These wagers start small, and relatively innocent, but quickly escalate as the characters drink more, and earn more. While each won bet is of no monetary concern to Colin or Violet, these dollar gains are changing Craig and Vince’s lives. The game is fun and light hearted, but after a strip club brawl leaves Craig unconscious, they all end up back at one of Colin and Violet’s houses, and the stakes become much higher.
Thankfully, the film gets just as dark as you would expect it to, but the ingenuity of Cheap Thrillsis that is does not follow a predictable path. At each turning point in the film I was sure of what the next stake would be, but I was rarely correct. Also, though the characters stay true to themselves, they do not always react in the ways that you think they would. The film uses each of these instances to give us further insight into each character and their motivations, rather than red herrings or expected reactions.
The film is also a clear allegory for our country’s current tension between the expanding divide between the have and have-nots. The description of the film in the Boston Underground Film Festival’s catalogue even goes so far as to describe Colin and Violet as “one percenters.” While this concern is present, the film never aggressively rubs your nose in it. It presents each character’s financial situation, and their actions flow from that. The chemistry between Colin and Violet, and Vince and Craig seems mutual. Even after Colin concedes that he sees their game as a personalized reality television show, the fact remains that everyone has had mostly a good time. But in all honesty, there is a power inequality there, and they are all aware of it.
Cheap Thrills is the type of film that forces you to react to it more than once. When leaving the theater, you have an instant reaction to the visceral experience of it. Many films, notablely some of the recent drivel that Hollywood has been calling “horror” lately, have the film’s experience end there. But Cheap Thrills sticks with you, as you pick apart the actions of the characters to see if you can relate to them. If the overall goal of the film was to have the audience asks themselves “how far would you go for money?” then it was a clear success. If the overall goal of the film was instead to create an entertaining film that keeps you guessing, laughing, wincing, and occasionally gagging, then it was triumph there as well.
