One of the cardinal rules of aspiring writers is to "write what you know." Todd Sklar, the writer-director of the amusing shaggy-dog comedy "Box Elder," has taken that advice to heart. The film, Sklar's first feature, premiered at the Dobie theater on Monday. It was well-received in Austin, as it was in various theaters across the country. Sklar is now touring college towns with the film, cast and crew in tow.
The plot: Four slacker college guys (Alex Rennie, Nick Renkoski, Chad Haas and Sklar) bicker and B.S. about their classes, social lives and girls for an hour and a half. They fight with their landlord and party a lot. They also eat at the same deli for their entire college lives. Nothing really happens in the movie; these guys don't have the most eventful lives. But at the end they've lost their excuse for doing nothing. They graduate from college and ... ? The movie doesn't say.
"Box Elder" isn't without its flaws. There are a lot of scenes that seem to go on longer than they need to, and the movie is pretty shapeless as a whole. But because of the modest aims of the movie, these problems are not glaring and actually fit into the overall sweep of the film.
A lot of the humor is actually dead-on. These are pathetic single-guy conversations through and through, and the range of bizarre personalities they meet while at their "anytown" college feel uncomfortably close to real life. The performances are strong, and the four leads have genuine chemistry that make you think that they've been friends for a while. The soundtrack also is packed with good tunes (Pavement's "Summer Babe [Winter Version]" is used to great effect). "Box Elder" is meant to be a funny evocation of the going-nowhere, doing-nothing college life that everyone has experienced. It succeeds on that level, and makes me interested to see what else Sklar has planned.
People who missed the showing on Monday will probably never have a chance to see the film in theaters. However, DVDs of the film were readily available at the premiere. What this means is that "Box Elder" will probably be available for rental in the near future. So if you see it at Blockbuster or on Netflix sometime, pick it up. It's a funny, endearing movie.
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