Well before he is the subject of an actual manhunt in Florida, Bryan Bruton (Theo Rossi) talks a lot about things catching up to him in “Bruton.” He is a criminal of the Tony Soprano variety minus the mob connections as far as his relatability is concerned, quietly affording himself and his extended family a comfortable suburban home with the proceeds from a drug dealing business and while he’s on a first name basis with local cops prone to pulling him over for routine stops, the familiarity suggests they’ll never actually make an arrest, nor does he give them reason to when he’s good about tucking away any illegal goods in a place he knows they won’t look during a search. There actually is a hint of disappointment in the voice of the officer who calls Bruton to ask if he was at the scene of a death where his truck was seen dragging a guy down the road, and while he admits instantly he was the one driving, there’s a sense between them both that the responsibility doesn’t entirely lie with him.
Tragedies aren’t usually the responsibility of just one person in the films of writer/director Vincent Grashaw, for whom “Bruton” seems like both a departure when it’s easily the most playful film of his career to date, a wild true story from the Sunshine State that requires a looser approach than the vehicles for unbearable tension he’s become a specialist in whether it’s the school shooting drama “And Before I Go” or his most recent police procedural “Gangland.” However, those who saw his arresting debut “Coldwater,” set inside a brutal youth rehabilitation center, will immediately know why the case of Bruton appealed to Grashaw, once again considering the often arbitrary nature of the law and whether the justice system is genuinely invested in reform or punishment for the incarcerated. While the system deserves skepticism, so too does Bruton, who winningly played by “Emily the Criminal” scene stealer Theo Rossi, has immense charm and as a result can get away with just about anything. Grashaw largely keeps his crimes off screen, so you can’t entirely judge how deserving he is of punishment, but he readily admits to any wrongdoing as he sees it and even in the manslaughter charges he faces, there is plenty of grey area when a case could be made that the circumstances dictated his behavior when despite being at the helm of a vehicle with the intent to do some damage to adversaries, the man who fell under the tires attacked him first.
A cheeky subtitle has to insist that the judge’s sentencing was taken directly from court transcripts when Bruton is subject to a 10-year stretch that defies credulity as the judge explains that the case would’ve been dismissed as an accident by any other court except the he took exception to the fact Bruton didn’t report it himself. That opens up the question that keeps following Bruton around as he is left to wonder how much bad luck or shifting goalposts are to blame for his circumstances as much as his own actions. Grashaw wisely structures the film so that you don’t need to see how resourceful Bruton was in building a self-sustaining business empire on the outside when he has to repeat the process all over again on the inside, befriending a prison guard (Tammy Blanchard) and a few other inmates to create a profitable fencing operation and even a subscription radio service. Eventually, others in the yard want a cut of the proceeds and Bruton has to plot an escape, successfully making it back out into the open, but having to wonder what kind of freedom that is in the middle of the Everglades where there seems to be just as much danger around any corner as there was in prison.
It can ring vaguely hollow when Bruton makes a direct appeal for redemption in the third act via a voiceover, speaking about how he only recognizes now the consequences his actions have had on others when it seems like he really isn’t overly concerned for anyone else but his young daughter Crystal (Kayden Jenna Tokarski) who he fears may not remember him when he’s out of her life for her teenage years. But consequences are nonetheless compelling to think about related to him as he is shuffled from one prison to another to prevent Crystal or her mother Sienna (Aya Cash) from knowing where he is for a potential visit and whether he’s paid enough for his crimes is always someone else’s subjective decision, whether it’s the warden of a prison or someone in his family. Rather than cast this in a dark light as most would, “Bruton” is illuminated by the same indefatigable spirit that keeps its lead going against all odds, showing all Bruton has to offer even if he’s simply wired a different way and for a character who always looks at things from a different angle, Grashaw reaps the benefits of taking the same approach.
“Bruton” will screen again at the Locarno Film Festival on August 13th at 5:30 pm at La Sala and August 14th at 4 pm at PalaCinema 2.