giuseppe andrews

30 min.

Gregory is having problems with his mom and dad. He’s getting older and more senile by the day. She is sleeping with live-in handyman Richard. Even worse, all have failed dreams and aspirations. Father wanted to be a poet. Mother had visions of being a singer. And Richard tried a career as a rapper under the name ‘PO Box’. When a secret from the past threatens their domestic bliss, the police must be called in to quell the storm.

Gwank is absolutely frightening. It is also mesmerizing in only the way a massive car wreck can be. Myth states that Andrews was planning an entire film about this unusual lover’s triangle when star (and actual facility employee) Richard threw a hissy and physically threatened the director with death. Cutting and running before he lost his life, Andrews decided to throw together the unreleased footage and form this part creepshow, part kitchen sink dramedy. Tyree, as usual, is a marvel to behold, reciting Andrews oddball dialogue with discernible ease. The rest - the rest has to be seen to be believed.

As for his co-stars (Miss Kitty and the aforementioned Richard), they are beyond hope. Clearly suffering from the ongoing aftereffects of too much coke smoke, they are incoherent, incomprehensible, and indelible. You can’t take your eyes off them, even when they look like they’re about to explode with dope fueled rage or simply fade into internal oblivion. Kitty also fancies herself a songstress, and occasionally breaks out in the kind of music you imagine coming from the mind of a deranged diva on Demerol. This turns Gwank into the kind of surreal slice of real life that Andrews specializes in - part wacked out musical, part painful pastiche of fringe dwelling.

-Bill Gibron