Flashes of anarchic wit and the odd zinger or sight gag brighten up “Operation Taco Gary’s,” an indie sci-fi farce in the tradition of “Safety Not Guaranteed” that plays like a redneck “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
The debut feature of writer-director Michael Kvamme — who’d rather go by “Mikey K” — borrows from everyone from John Waters to John Wick and stars “Red Rocket” fireball Simon Rex and Jason “American Pie” Biggs as himself.
And if it all that promise doesn’t come together or amount to much more than the occasional laugh, so be it.
“Schitt’s Creek” alumna Dustin Milligan is the mild-mannered paleontologist Luke whose moving-day is interrupted by a visit from his crazed, medicated and ever-so-estranged brother Danny (Rex). As we’ve met Danny in a neck brace and cast/boot staring down some unseen menace about to run him over, we expect the worst.
Luke’s moving to Ottawa, Canada. Danny’s off his meds and looking for an excuse to tag along. He’s the conspiracy nut’s conspiracy nut. Danny knows that things are not as they seem and that the strange slew of deaths of celebrities — Jason Biggs is the latest — is not what it seems.
“The ‘boy who cried wolf’ was a pesonal hero of mine!”
Next thing Luke knows, he’s been kidnapped and dragged to a Taco Gary’s because they’re a “neutral” zone where the aliens won’t get you, where the reconnection with even-crazier Klyle (Tony Cavalero) must be made because he has a van, and any guy who spells his name “Klyle” “because it’s harder to trace” knows what he’s doing.
God knows, Danny doesn’t.
“As you can see, he has either been dragged off by several people, or one perso who’s really good at break dancing!”
Tag-along Allison (Brenda Song of “The Last Showgirl” and TV’s “Dollface”) is here to keep the peace between the crazies and Luke’s understandable meltdowns over their craziness.
There are tall, John Waters-skinny aliens called “The Elders” who’re running some sort of scam with the world’s elites, which gives the picture a timely Trumpstein Files appeal. And they’re in on the joke, too.
“We travel… by SILVER Sonic,” one elder (Doug Jones) declares.
Yes, it’s an off-the-lot Chevy econobox.
Bits of pieces of this “accept the absurd” farce play, but it never adds up to “romp.”
Cheesy Charlotte, North Carolina locations come nowhere near mimicking Canada, so the “border crossing” one and all fret over is minimized if not utterly abandoned.
The “No one believes the truth any more” messaging may be timely, but this isn’t satire or even “high concept” silliness. It’s just an antic collection of almost-random scenes not-quite-sprinted-through by Rex, Cavalero and Milligan and slow-walked by Biggs, who is, as always, a good sport about it all.
Rating: unrated, violence, profanity, lewd humor
Cast: Simon Rex, Dustin Milligan, Brenda Song, Tony Cavalero, Arturo Castro, Doug Jones and Jason Biggs.
Credits: Scripted and directed by Mikey K. (Michael Kvamme). A Chroma release.
Running time: 1:25
