FREAK FILMS: BIG BAD LOVE

Big Bad Love is more of an experience than it is a film. It’s as personal as a photograph, or curling up with a favorite novel. Based on the stories of Larry Brown, it is simply one of the most amazing films I\'ve seen in a quite awhile. Writer/director/star Arliss Howard has filmed the inside of a man’s consciousness-- sounds overlap; we switch in and out of states of being; words trigger memories, and memories are tied into stories. Big Bad Love is about storytelling. Trying to write, trying to change who you are, where you\'re heading, trying to keep control, and learning that you have no control. There are surreal moments, like the best of David Lynch\'s films, but with more meaning. While sometimes confusing and abstract, it all pays off-- it goes somewhere and points to some kind of a meaning. Howard takes a handful of cliches (the alcoholic; the unsuccessful writer; the broken marriage; the ex-wife who has to work harder to overcome the ex-husband’s irresponsibilities; the children stuck in the middle), and mixes them up into a poetic reality. There is so much depth to this film that several viewings are in order. Have you ever been struck by a line in a film and felt that you needed to write it down? Big Bad Love is full of them-- insights, descriptions, and real moments that capture pieces of the world. It captures the struggle of trying to create, and get your life together. It\'s a story about second chances and redemption, but it doesn\'t preach or make it easy for you. Like real life, there are no easy answers. Things are not neatly wrapped up. You know after the credits roll, that life continues, and things may not be better than they were before. But it gives you something to believe in. Big Bad Love leaves you with hope.
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