FILM FRENZY

Billy Gardell in The Vortex (Photos: Lucid Pictures & Synkronized)

By Matt Brunson

THE VORTEX
★★★ (out of four)
DIRECTED BY Richard Zelniker
STARS Billy Gardell, Jaina Lee Ortiz

If writer-director Richard Zelniker ever elects to turn his feature film The Vortex into a stage play, I imagine it wouldn’t be too difficult. The vast majority of the movie takes place in one room, the cast list isn’t particularly long, the set design would be relatively simple, and the script is all dialogue-driven, where the closest thing to an action scene is when one man slightly twists the arm of another guy.

Of course, what The Vortex would lose on stage would be its intimacy. Part of what makes the movie work so well is the decision by Zelniker and director of photography Justin Richards to shoot the majority of the material up close and personal. The camera rarely strays far from the craggy, lined face of protagonist Pete Finnegan (Billy Gardell), a stand-up comedian trying to survive in 1980 Las Vegas. Pete actually seems to be a pretty good comic (the jokes we hear are actually amusing, which isn’t always the case in films featuring professional comedians), but this movie doesn’t center on him standing in front of a live audience but rather sitting in front of a slot machine.

As various folks keep reminding him throughout the picture, Pete is in serious financial difficulty, owing a sizable amount of bank to a mobster named Jimmy (Christopher Titus). Night after night, Pete’s post-performance routine is to sit in front of a backroom slot machine and perpetually feed it coins, hoping for that one big score that he believes will end all his troubles. On this particular night of November 21 — the movie works that evening’s real-life tragedy (the fire at the MGM Grand that killed 85 people) into its fabric — a mellow Pete sits while various acquaintances drop by to palaver with him. These include a warm-hearted waitress (Jaina Lee Ortiz), a helpful Paiute cleaning woman (Emily Alabi), and a chatty tech (Nick Gomez).

All of these people clearly like Pete — in fact, one of the most interesting aspects of the movie is how everyone seems to like Pete, which isn’t surprising since he’s unfailingly charming, polite, and self-deprecating. Even Louie (Nick Gracer), the roughneck collector who will be the one breaking his arm if he can’t pay up, is fond of him (“If only you were an asshole, the job would be so much more fun.”). In fact, Pete’s worst enemy isn’t Louie or even Jimmy — it’s himself, caught in this situation because he never could control his gambling addiction. If ever there was a guy who shouldn’t be living in Vegas…

With Pete on view practically every nanosecond of the film, it’s wouldn’t be incorrect to label this a character study, or a one-man show. Yet those designations often mean that everyone else is paid short shrift, which certainly isn’t the case here. While some of the supporting players aren’t given enough screen time to make much of an impression, others clearly benefit from Zelniker’s attention. The lengthy scene between Pete and Louie is arguably the film’s best, largely because of the way the men play it — there’s always tension coiled just beneath the banter — and a late sequence in which a colleague’s wife (Azita Ghanizada) slyly admits her fondness for Pete manages to lend some poignancy to the proceedings despite its relative brevity.

The Vortex is so thoroughly absorbing that it’s a shame its weakest moments are the closing ones. Many movies benefit from ambiguous endings — this is not one of them. With the entirety of the running time spent with one individual, it feels like a cheat for audience members not to be allowed to finish Pete’s journey alongside him (unless Zelniker has plans for a sequel, which seems unlikely). And without engaging in spoilers, Pete’s ultimate decision is based solely on the advice of another character — it’s presented as spiritually fulfilling guidance, but there were other ways for Pete to achieve it without opting for the path that might leave him no better off than roadkill. It’s just another reason more finality would have suited this picture.

Still, even a disappointing denouement can’t diminish the power of the rest of the film. Between the excellent performances, the specificity of the setting and the situations, and some memorable exchanges, here’s an indie effort that handsomely pays out.