The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle (2009)

I attended a screening of "The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle" at the 2009 SXSW Film Festival. It's rare to find a film that's truly original while remaining accessible. It might be an incredible work of art but if it's not enjoyable nobody will see it outside the festival circuit anyway, so what's the point? There are certainly enough self-indulgent excesses from first-time directors out there.

On the other hand, entertainment usually dictates convention. That's what Hollywood is good at. So to be able to marry the two, to create a film that is both unique as well as satisfying on a mass audience level, is quite daunting. "The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle" meets that challenge.

Dory (Marshall Allman) is lost -- spiritually, financially, and emotionally. He becomes a seeker -- in search of a religion he can believe in, a job with which he can survive, and, perhaps, someone (or something) to love. After trashing the workplace where his empty, meaningless days consist of entering numbers in columns, he joins a ragtag group of commercial janitors. They clean office buildings at night with the passion (and look) of the latest punk rock band in their nightly sold out gig. Unexpected discoveries follow, and the madness begins.

Writer/director David Russo's first feature owes much of its look to slick photography from veteran cinematographer Neil Holcomb and the steady hand of Billy McMillin in the editing room. The visuals and sound are consistent with the puzzling mystery of the plot and frantic actions of the characters, with mind-blowing effects and Hitchcockian camera angles. Subjective POV shots allow the actors to address the camera, as if the viewer might be able to shout advice on how to deal with the predicament in which they find themselves.

Great films need to combine four elements: a unique and compelling story, a talented Director of Photography, an editor who can carry out the vision of the director, and a cast up to the task of bringing the characters to life. "The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle" features Marshall Allman ("Prison Break"), Natasha Lyonne ("American Pie"), Tania Raymonde ("Lost, Chasing 3000"), Tygh Runyan ("Normal"), and Vince Vieluf ("Epic Movie").

It's always hard to single anyone out in a brilliant ensemble cast but Vieluf is hilarious as Dory's maniacally hyperactive mentor and sets the tone for the film. Raymonde and Runyan, as the combustible Ethyl and Methyl, have appropriately explosive on screen chemistry. Lyonne's Tracy has the face of an angel and a personality struggling to live up to that image. Most of all, though, this is Allman's film. Audiences may recognize him from his multitude of television appearances -- he's only done a handful of indie features -- but he carries this movie like a seasoned leading man. With childlike innocence and naiveté, Allman's youthful face and demeanor bring just the right amount of vulnerability to the fragile Dory and place him squarely in the realm of today's most talented 20-something actors.

"The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle" has a fascinating storyline that mixes drama and comedy, as do most top quality indies. But it almost manages to create a new genre -- one part stoner comedy, one part political thriller, one part horror and many parts that ultimately result in a cinematic mindf*ck.