A New Wave Movie Review

I don't understand much about A New Wave, I'm afraid. I don't understand what the title's supposed to mean. I don't understand the tagline. I don't understand how the plot was supposed to be compelling. And I don't understand why it was made.

The film is a post-modern pastiche of heist flick and comedy, the kind popularized by Reservoir Dogs and knocked off endlessly ever since it was released. In A New Wave we have a bored bank teller named Desmond (Andrew Keegan) who dreams of the big time, so he kicks in with pals Gideon (John Krasinski) and Rupert (Dean Edwards), who plan to rob the bank where he works. The "perfect plan" described on the DVD cover is pretty asinine: They other two guys will simply go to the bank when Desmond's on duty, rob it, and have Desmond fill up the moneybags. Desmond even tells them they're trained not to trip the alarms, so no need to worry about cops. Gideon scripts the robbery as if it's a movie, complete with dialogue and costumes. He's obsessed with other films, so he borrows from every gangster flick in the book, including Dogs. (Yes, A New Wave is yet another movie so unoriginal it openly borrows from other movies in the hopes of being clever.)

About halfway through the film, we suddenly realize that Desmond is not just a bank teller, he's also an aspiring artist, and he earns his first show on the eve of the robbery. Wow, a big time art critic slumming in the suburbs (we're not sure where, but it's somewhere near New York) even shows up at this opening, and not only hooks him up with a city gallery, but buys one of the pieces, too! Plus, the dad (William Sadler) of his super-hot girlfriend (Lacey Chabert) offers him a job. Life may not be perfect, but it's good enough not to ruin it by ripping off the bank where he works, right? Pals don't like it when he backs out, and they rob the place anyway. I won't spoil what happens next, but it's jarring and, frankly, not remotely appropriate for what we've endured during the prior 80 minutes.

As a heist flick, A New Wave isn't very thrilling. As a comedy, the movie's a near utter bust. Keegan simply doesn't have dramatic or comedic chops, leaving it to the supporting cast to carry the movie. Only Krasinski is up to the task, but his part is so derivative it doesn't work either. Jason Carvey's script is as rough as his filmmaking. An obvious quickie, low-budget production, A New Wave has a hurried, unfinished feel that is never transcended by the raw material, something indies like Clerks (which probably cost less and had even less star power) managed to do.

Be it known: I hereby declare a moratorium on Reservoir Dogs references, explicit or implied, in all movies. Forever.

The DVD includes some (endless) deleted scenes and a gag reel.