Talented up-and-comer Joel David Moore co-wrote, co-produced, co-directed, and stars in the excellent Spiral, a smart and edgy psychological thriller that can sit proudly next to the film-noirs of the Hitchcock era, but also almost feels like a romantic comedy for the socially awkward. And that’s a big part of what makes it work.
Set in rainy Portland, the film features Moore (Hatchet, Art School Confidential) as Mason, a shy painter and jazz aficionado who earns his keep as a telemarketer by day. His arrogant and womanizing boss, Berkeley (Zachary Levi, of critically acclaimed TV series Chuck), also happens to be his best friend and the only person who’ll stand up for the socially misfit Mason. All of that changes when Mason meets Amber (Amber Tamblyn, TheGrudge 2, TV’s Joan of Arcadia), a bubbly and carefree girl who starts working at the same insurance company as Mason. As their friendship grows and Mason begins to sketch and paint Amber’s portrait, he also is increasingly haunted by visions of a previous muse. The stage is set for a brilliant did-he-or-didn’t-he, is-she-or-isn’t-she turn of events that will enthrall viewers with all the tricks of the film noir trade: captivating scenery, odd angles and perspectives, creative shot sequences, and a tight story with whip-smart dialogue and a fluctuating pace.
Moore enlisted the help of Hatchet director Adam Green and much of his crew to help him in his feature directorial debut, and kudos to him for not having too big of an ego to do that. After all, it must be impossible to direct a film alone when you’re also starring in every single scene. Without Green’s very competent aid in directing Spiral, Moore most definitely wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on what amounts to a star-making performance as Mason. The scenery and the camera work can also be seen as characters unto themselves. There’s a reason Spiral won the Golden Vision Award for “the most innovative and unique film with an inspiring and ground-breaking vision” at the 2007 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and a lot of it has to do with the creative vision of the entire team behind the making of the film. Ultimately, though, the allure of the story and the interplay between Moore and Tamblyn (and even between Moore and Levi) are what really carry the film.
The film is presented in a crisp widescreen image and the disc makes excellent use of the fantastic jazz soundtrack in 5.1 surround sound. The DVD is a little light on special features, though:
Three Starz Entertainment promos that, when put together, make for one eight or nine minute featurette detailing how a group of friends put together a script and went on a fundraising campaign to bankroll the film.
Spinning Spiral: The Making of Spiral is just an eight minute featurette that doesn’t go too deep into the filmmaking process, and seems like just a bunch of loose footage of the shooting of certain scenes. It also repeats a lot of the same things from the three promos.
The feature commentary, though, is a blast. Just about everyone involved in the film sits in on this one and they have a lot of fun reminiscing about the making of the film and their favorite scenes. A running gag has just about every scene being somebody’s “favorite” scene with such and such character, etc. We get some insight here, mainly thanks to director of photography Will Barratt, into how certain noteworthy shots were captured. It’s like watching the film among friends who happen to have been involved in the making of it.
With a short shooting schedule and small budget, Spiral was shot in a sort of communal, guerilla style of film-making, but you wouldn’t know it from watching this film that feels indie but looks Hollywood. Criminally under-promoted, with any justice Spiral will go down as a contemporary genre classic. It deserves to be seen by any fan of film noir, and any fan of film noir needs to see it.
