(IMAGE: Mammoth)
Mammoth. 2021. Drama/Adventure. 97 minutes.
RATING: 3.5 out of 4
The first impression anyone is likely to have of Lotawana is, “This sure is well-photographed.” Toned, unshaven bad-boy Forrest (Todd Blubaugh) lives on his boat, frequently shirtless. He invites New Zealander girlfriend Everly (Nicola Collie) to move in with him. They make out and look pretty together. She looks young and innocent. He looks like the guy every girl wants to be with before they’re mature enough to start thinking about long-term security and responsibility. Birds beat their wings in slow-motion. Jeans look great on Forrest. It could all be an amazing fashion shoot. But eventually, the viewer may start to wonder: besides pretty people being pretty, is there a point to all this?
That, as it turns out, is deliberate. The scene-setting may seem like it takes forever, but that’s to give the plot a chance to sneak up on us. Once Everly declares she’s pregnant, the minimalist life of banging on a boat suddenly seems poised to get a lot more complicated. Forrest’s lifestyle is awesome for a guy with no obligations. But picture a toddler learning how to walk in a situation where any misstep could lead to drowning. Or how the obligations of attending a particular school inherently must clamp down on the nomadic impulse.
But this is no more a hazards of parenting movie than it is an Old Navy photoshoot. When something happens to shake up the couple’s life even further, Everly’s attitude starts to change. Perhaps as a reaction to the forced conformity she was expecting to come, she starts taking new risks to live dangerously. And with an additional level of recklessness starting to permeate their lives, the permanent vacation aura starts coming to an increasingly awkward end. Forrest, bless his vacant good looks, doesn’t really have the emotional tools to help Everly cope. Or stop himself from enabling.
Director Trevor Hawkins, who also serves as writer, cinematographer, editor, and colorist, could easily have botched this. It’s shot essentially in his own backyard at Lake Lotawana, Missouri, financed with a loan against his own house, and clearly calling in lots of favors with the neighbors. But he evidently followed the “write what you know” axiom to its highest and best use. A nature photographer and commercial director by trade, his own headshots aspire to the same unkempt-sexy look Forrest sports, and mercifully, he seems to have a degree of self-reflection about that. Forrest is a decent enough guy, but he’s no Mary Sue/Barry Stu author stand-in as perfect protagonist. That Hawkins makes the movie look beautiful should never have been in doubt. That he keeps slowly ratcheting up the dramatic stakes in a manner that never feels forced or telegraphed is a minor miracle and a joy to watch unfold.
Blubaugh mostly resembles an alternate-universe version of TJ Miller, in which that comedian had steadily worked out and not burned most of his bridges. Everything people once liked about Miller minus the stuff nobody does, perhaps. It’s easy to understand a younger person’s attraction to him as Forrest, just as it may be easier for older folks to peg his lifestyle as ultimately doomed. Collie’s Everly doesn’t have the same sex appeal, but conveys a vibe she’d be an easy mark for uber-confident dudes, fortunate to have found one who doesn’t abuse the privilege. And then, as it turns out, deceptively concealing darker depths.
Now, the question for Hawkins is this: having utilized everything at his immediate disposal to make a movie, can he follow it up with something different? To a point, that depends on how much money anyone gives him. But Lotawana is more than one hell of a demo reel. It’s one hell of a debut feature. And whatever he does next has definitely earned the benefit of the doubt.
###