Buffalo '66 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Buffalo '66 Blu-ray Movie Review

Shuffle off to Buffalo.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 5, 2014

Is Vincent Gallo one of the most underrated auteurs of his generation or simply a narcissist out to get his jollies via the medium of film? It’s interesting that critical opinion of Gallo has been so disparate, much of it based on either positive assessments (usually though not always regarding Buffalo ‘66) and negative comments (usually though not always aimed at Brown Bunny). Even those who like Gallo’s “I’ll do it all” ethos have been prone to admit (sometimes under duress) that the writer-director-composer-producer-craft services provider (okay, that last one is a joke) has a tendency toward self-aggrandizement, a tendency that Gallo himself seemed to exacerbate with his almost intentionally provocative “real live sex” scene with Chloe Sevigny in Brown Bunny. I tend to come down somewhere in the middle of this critical spectrum. I appreciate Gallo’s finely tuned independent spirit (to purloin a phrase), but I’m also not immune to his overly twee and at times annoyingly pretentious proclivities. Buffalo ‘66 has a really fascinating mood, one that veers unsteadily between over the top drama and a kind of surreal, almost Buñuel-esque sense of the absurd, but I’m frankly less sure now than I was when I first saw the film years ago how well it all works. It’s a film by a creative man who’s only too aware of the built in artifices of his chosen art form. Buffalo ‘66 is an odd duck in any number of ways, but it’s worth seeing for those who get sick of cookie cutter entertainments where virtually every plot machination is telegraphed seemingly from the first frame. Say what you want to about Gallo’s oeuvre, but keep in mind Gallo at least has the chutzpah to stretch the boundaries and push the envelope in often brisk and unexpected ways.

Billy Brown (Vincent Gallo) is a kind of sad sack loser who’s just getting out of “the joint” as Buffalo ‘66 begins. It is almost immediately apparent that Billy is spectacularly ill prepared for life in the real world. He simply camps out on the bus stop bench outside of the prison for quite some time, before asking the guard if he can come back inside to use the bathroom. Though it ultimately becomes apparent that Billy’s time in incarceration needn’t have happened in the first place, he was perhaps better off inside, where he could be taken care of in a manner of speaking, than thrust out into the big, wide world where his accumulated rage and insecurities don’t meld very well with the vicissitudes of everyday life.

Billy’s need to empty his bladder actually ends up being a central plot point in the film’s opening sequences, for he manages to make it back to his hometown of Buffalo without relieving himself (if only barely), and then sets out on a mad dash to find a rest room, which of course is met with one obstacle after another. After a panicked run through the grimy streets of downtown Buffalo, he bursts in on a dance class where Layla (Christina Ricci) is one of a gaggle of girls learning to tap dance. Layla seems to be struck by Billy as he marauds through the room to find the men’s room—where, finally, he is ostensibly able to get his business taken care of, except that his rage explodes once again due to the neighboring urinal being occupied by someone to whom Billy takes an instant dislike.

Gallo has already indulged in a couple of stylistic excesses though the film is not very far into its running time. Billy’s exit from the prison is met with a kind of visual collage that fills the screen (see screenshot 7), which at least has the benefit of covering up Gallo’s butt crack which is clearly on display when Billy first sits on the bus stop bench. But later, Gallo gives the viewer a bird’s eye view during several scenes, as if to suggest a kind of omniscient narrator detailing the story, even though it’s told resolutely from Billy’s point of view. However, once Layla enters the film, Gallo starts to indulge in excesses of another kind, as the somewhat paper thin plot begins to strain credulity. Seemingly out of nowhere, Billy decides to kidnap Layla and force her into pretending to be his wife for an impending visit with Billy’s harridan parents Jan (Anjelica Huston) and Jimmy (Ben Gazzara).

Buffalo ‘66 follows the bizarre unfolding relationship between Layla and Billy within the even more bizarre confines of the Brown family dynamic. Gallo again repeatedly plays with film technique, offering amusing pop up window inserts that reveal some of Billy’s memory (and which directly contradict his mother’s recollections). There is some more subtle horseplay at hand here, though: pay attention to the coverage of the focal quartet at the Brown kitchen table. The reverse shots seem to make absolutely no sense from the way the room is set up.

The film has a strangely hypnotic quality, but it’s a decidedly disjointed, illogical experience, part of which seems to be intentional on Gallo’s part. Gallo and his editor Curtiss Clayton play with standard narrative form, as is probably best exemplified by a quick detour the film takes in the final few minutes, when Billy finally confronts the guy who’s responsible for his stint in stir. Again, we get an up close and personal peek into Billy’s inner life, but Gallo doesn’t initially differentiate this aspect, leaving the viewer to infer what’s going on.

Buffalo ‘66 is filled with fascinating turns by a bevy of performers, including the aforementioned Huston and Gazzara (kind of doing one of his patented Cassavetes performances). Also on hand are Roseanna Arquette as an old (imagined) flame of Billy’s, Kevin Corrigan as a friend of Billy’s who has been helping him delude his parents into thinking he has a successful life and career, and Mickey Rourke as a bookie. Gallo achieves a definite mood here with these casting choices, but the roles tend to be underwritten one note affairs, types rather than characters. Things are marginally better with Billy and Layla, though why Layla agrees to go along with Billy’s charade is never adequately motivated or explained (would a mere spark of romantic interest really mean Layla would allow herself to be kidnapped?).

Gallo’s oeuvre has its proponents and detractors in about equal measure, but Buffalo ‘66 remains what is perhaps his best realized “vision”, as oddly skewed as it may be. Despite the fact that Ricci evidently did not get along very well with Gallo on set, she gives a nicely modulated performance here and interacts well with Gallo on screen. Gallo is actually quite winning as Billy, making the character both oddly lovable and marginally despicable at the same time. This film will not be to everyone’s taste, but for those who like decidedly weird, character driven fare, Buffalo ‘66 turns out to be surprisingly endearing.

Buffalo '66 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Buffalo '66 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Some coming to this high definition presentation "cold" may think this looks fairly shoddy, but most if not all of the film's very distinctive appearance can be traced to the face that it was shot on reversal stock, a decision on the part of Gallo that inherently tweaks contrast and color saturation. Therefore, there's a kind of red tint to large portions of this film which simultaneously slightly desaturates the blue end of the spectrum. Grain is also a bit more noticeable than it might be otherwise (there are a couple of very brief moments, like the early overhead shot of Billy trying to pee behind a car, where minor compression artifacts are noticeable). While the look of the film would not be termed "sharp" in today's parlance, it's rather well detailed in the many close-ups Gallo utilizes. There are a number of optical effects throughout the film, where softness and grain are measurably increased, as should be expected. All in all, this is a nicely organic looking presentation, with no signs of digital manipulation having altered the original look of the film.

Buffalo '66 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Buffalo '66 features a nice sounding lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix that provides substantial depth and a good accounting of the film's ubiquitous music (yes, a lot of it written by Gallo). Dialogue is cleanly and clearly presented and there's decent width in the track as well, especially in scenes like the odd sequence in the bowling alley or the equally odd sequence where Gazzara "sings".

Buffalo '66 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 3:02) is one of the few trailers that also contains a bit of editorializing about the studio's lack of support for it from its creator (who is, of course, Gallo).

Buffalo '66 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Buffalo '66 isn't for everyone, to say the least, but it has some peculiar charms which make it one of the more interesting indie outings of its era. The story never completely gels, and some of the characters function more or less as animated wallpaper, but Gallo creates a truly memorable film experience and one which features an unusually visceral lead performance. This Blu-ray is shockingly low on supplements (Lionsgate evidently had about as much faith in the Blu-ray release as they did in the trailer), but otherwise Buffalo '66 comes Recommended.