This is a surreal comedy-drama about a man named Lenny (played by newcomer Brett Golov) who is suffering from depression and schizophrenia.  He works in a men’s clothing store with his only two friends, Skip (Ryan Bollman), who helps run the store, and Carl who is an 80’s surfer burnout dude (played hilariously by Michael DeLuise, son of the classic comedic talent Dom DeLuise).

Lenny’s world is a monotonous cycle of taking pills which drug him to near-catatonia, working at the clothing store, and getting hit on by the aging waitress who works at his favorite coffee shop and happens to live in his apartment complex as well.
Enter Patsy (played by the gorgeous Christine Lakin), a mysterious girl with a mysterious black box being chased by mysterious goons with badges, who falls for Lenny.  Christine may or may not be real, the black box may or may not hold a life-changing secret, and the goons with badges may or may not be good guys.  In fact, nearly every character in the film (with the exception of Lenny’s two friends) may be a figment of Lenny’s schizophrenic imagination.

Filmed by first-time director Anton Jarvis for under $200,000, it is clear to me that Mr. Jarvis has skills.  The production values are all top notch and the cinematography is particularly impressive.  The film has a nice mix of drama, light comedy, and some fine slapstick by, of course, Michael DeLuise.  In fact, all of the main characters (Bollman, Golov, and Lakin) are excellent.  Bollman is funny and annoying as Lenny’s protective, still-in-the-closet gay friend while Golov does a nice job stumbling through the movie in a drug-induced semi-conscious state.  Lakin exhibits a range of emotions and plays them all in excellent fashion.

Because we are never sure how much of our story is reality and how much is Lenny’s fantasies, the film comes across as a bit surreal and quite quirky.  Some scenes don’t seem to fit because we are (most likely) viewing these scenes as part of Lenny’s delusion.  This is definitely an offbeat story and an offbeat film, but director Jarvis does a nice job of balancing the various emotions that are evoked, from humor to sadness and from confusion to anger.

If you like your romances quirky, with liberal doses of humor, then this film might be for you.  But there is more to this film than just an offbeat romance.  It can also be viewed as a statement about mental illness, especially depression and schizophrenia.  While the film can be funny in places, it also comes across as very compassionate to those unfortunate folks who may be suffering from various mental diseases.  I’m just guessing, but I suspect that Jarvis (who also wrote the screenplay for the film, along with wearing many other filmmaking hats) has some personal experience with family members or friends who have depression and/or schizophrenia, and in a way, this is his gift of love to them.

Sad, dramatic, funny, but always very human, this is a nice first effort for the director, and I hope to see more of his work as well as Golov’s, Bollman’s, DeLuise’s, and Lakin’s.  If you would like to see this film, please go to www.patsyfilm.com.