Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: COTTON FEVER [Tribeca Film Festival - New York, New York]
The aspect of addiction can come in many different forms. What Director Daniel Blake Schwartz tries to do in "Cotton Fever" [US Narrative Competition], in certain ways as probably respective of his own experience, is show some of the inevitability in the choices that his characters must make in their path both away and towards redemption. A central story centers on James (Kyle Gallner) and Dina (Sosie Bacon) who are pregnant but definitely teetering on the edge of something they can’t handle. What is interesting is the separation of self and how the psychology of it works because it becomes inherently very selfish which is a beautiful thing to play psychologically. The interesting aspect of Sosie and Kyle is the roles they played in "Smile" which obviously brought them together here. It gives an interesting depth because it is glammed down.
On the other side of the narrative is a lesbian couple who is not much better off scrounging on the streets. At one point there is robbery and then an OD but the consequence doesn’t seem to register. However the ideal of addiction here comes down to what is the bigger high and can it be controlled. A specific therapist scene paints an interesting idea of the hierarchy of what motivates people in this way. This leads to a telling and vulnerable scene with two characters alone in their locked room away from the each other and yet still connected. "Cotton Fever" doesn’t try to explain why its characters do what they do....they just simply are They pass in the night against their better judgement. But ultimately what opens up the storytelling is those little bits of empathy even when everything else is going wrong. Life is not perfect but sometimes humanity peaks through. Bacon shines the most in this way since she is isn’t afraid to let her dark side show and despite the heavy subject matter she and her fellow actors give it voice. B
By Tim Wassberg
