There’s a line a few minutes into “Tooth Shop Fiasco” that’s bound to get a laugh from just about anyone as the opening title sequence gets unusually intimate, listing both the actors and the characters they play before noting that “We made this film just for you.” In bland Times New Roman against a black screen, this actual piece of text doesn’t seem like much of an offering and after a glimpse at the patently absurd situation that James Lassen (Blaine Maye) finds himself in, a smile will either cross your face when David Harari’s directorial debut indeed knows your sick sense of humor or a smirk knowing that you can confidently walk out when it’s clearly not for you.
God forgive me for falling into the former category, but Harari, a producer on the equally odd Zellner Brothers’ adventure “Sasquatch Summer,” likes what he likes and endearingly doesn’t care what anyone else will in his directorial debut, which runs a (nice) 69 minutes, but probably just under an hour if you take out any interstitial credits. (Puckishly, there’s an announcement of a place reserved for an intermission halfway through the film for no particular reason, but it’s not considered an official one.) His perverse sense of humor can be seen simply from a logline when James eagerly awaits a dental appointment, something no one else possibly would, except that he’s developed a rapport with his hygienist Janelle. He also lives at home well into his twenties, sleeping in a room next to his comatose brother Daniel, who mysteriously slipped into a long sleep while they both were in junior high school and had plans to start a metal band together.
A case could be made that “Tooth Shop Fiasco” tells the story of a young man who is too busy waiting for what could be to take advantage of what’s right in front of him when Jennifer (Katie Folger), a receptionist at Ricopico Dentistry shows interest in him as he lusts after the unseen Janelle, and Jack (Tyler Mann), a concerned friend actually pulls him into a therapist’s office to complain about not singing after his brother went silent when he’s squandering his talent. But that would be suggesting a conventional narrative that clearly the film thumbs its nose at throughout, periodically injecting a random thought onto the screen to comment on the action and ending some scenes with a veritable shrug of the shoulders when cutting to static. A Gen X level of indifference towards conformity shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of care, however, when the observations are sharp – that James spent the years reeling from the loss of his brothers drawing logos for their imagined band rather than having any inclination to practice an instrument will resonate deep — and Harari insists on viewers keeping an eye out for eccentric touches, such as a hand that’ll pop out of a bush during a contemplative walk, when any scenes threatens to become too serious.
“Tooth Shop Fiasco” does find itself in a kind of limbo when it understands the charm of a Tommy Wiseau or Neil Breen film — it invites an array of performances that don’t exactly align with one another — while boasting too much talent both behind and in front of the camera to authentically pull it off. (Besides a Nada Surf song over the end credits that no Z-grade production would have either the taste or the budget to license, the production values are generally a little too good to feel like a guilty pleasure.) But for those that enjoy random escapades, especially of the variety that might be mistaken for hallucinations by tuning into Adult Swim in the wee hours of the night, “Tooth Shop Fiasco” has enough laughing gas to keep it going.
“Tooth Shop Fiasco” does not yet have U.S. distribution.