Dallas 362 (2003)
Thursday, August 3rd, 2006
Written & Directed by: Scott Caan
Cast: Sean Hatosy, Scott Caan, Kelly Lynch, Jeff Goldblum, Val Lauren, Selma Blair, Heavy D
Runtime: 100 min.
Rating: R
Most critics point out this film’s opening sequence as a little piece of cake to go with an otherwise still-good meal that ends with a saucerful of cottage cheese. I don’t see it that way. Maybe I’m a sap, but I was moved by the end (with its not-so-delicate cribbing of John Schlesinger’s Midnight Cowboy)—even if it was a standard tug at the heart strings—and under-whelmed by the beginning, which stretched on and on, until the novelty of its technique wore off. I do agree with most critics about the middle, however; the majority of Dallas 362 is well-made, independent cinema with enough dues paid to both style and story to make Scott Caan a filmmaker to keep an eye on.
Although released in 2003 to minor success (a surprise, considering that Scott Caan’s father is James Caan), the film is only truly getting life on cable and satellite this year, which, by programming coincidence, actually makes it a fitting counterpoint to another recent film about two cowboy friends in love: Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. It takes perhaps more delicacy and cunning to make a film about two male friends that doesn’t resolve in a gay romance, than to make one that does. And Dallas 362 pulls it off, admirably. I even liked the annoying Jewish guy named Christian—an obvious play on words, but one that made me smile.
Scott Caan is no cinematic genius, but Dallas 362 is better than it’s fate, and I’m looking forward to his next film. Anyone who apes shots from Midnight Cowboy has at least seen Midnight Cowboy, and that’s not a bad thing. Still, maybe he should look for some help with his writing, which isn’t nearly as assured and professional as his direction.
Pacze Moj
© Cinephile Magazine, 2006
