Hate the title. Just doesn't flow. However, trailer is solid, acting/directing have that look, that core you see when good people are involved. You can tell first-time director Mike Wallis delivers.
Reviews are very good. THR says:
Imagine a Kiwi spaghetti western filtered through the offbeat sensibilities of early Sam Raimi or the Coen brothers and you’ve pretty much got the picture that is Good for Nothing. A promising first feature effort by New Zealand-based animation coordinator Mike Wallis, the quirky story of a burgeoning romance between a savage outlaw and his young English female captive might not always satisfyingly occupy those wide-open spaces, but the overall result still makes for a spirited ride.
The premise is what gets me, why I'm willing to bet this will be worth a viewing: A man kidnaps a woman and wants to have his way with her but experiences difficulties in that arena, then takes her from place to place searching for a cure for his condition. You gotta love that. Who would dream up such a plot? Fully loaded, as it were, with potentially compelling characters -- lots of room for exploration.
About the premise, Ain't it Cool says:
If you’re anything like me, the entire premise to this point seems sort of untenable. It’s difficult to give credit to even an anti-hero with that particular line-up of bad deeds. This, however – is where director/producer/writer Mike Wallis makes me a believer.
He very well could have turned the dynamic of the relationship between Isabella and The Man into an oddly romantic one, and audience members were even clamoring for it after the film – a testament to doing things right on the page.
Here's a bit of Leonard Maltin's report from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival:
At a q&a following the Sunday morning show, Wallis joined his leading man, Cohen Holloway, and leading lady Inge Rademeyer, who is also his fiancée and the film’s coproducer. They told a sold-out crowd how they pieced together this labor-of-love over the past three years, gathering props and costumes off the Internet and calling in favors right and left. Having worked as a runner at Peter Jackson’s WETA Digital around the time of The Lord of the Rings, Wallis was able to show his rough edit to a colleague who arranged for them to use Jackson’s post-production facilities. Another lucky break earned them the offer of an original score by renowned composer John Psathas, who recorded it with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Their can-do spirit put a smile on everyone’s face, all the moreso having just encountered Rademeyer in character onscreen, quite different from the ebullient young kiwi happily discussing her adventure in getting the movie made. (She discouraged anyone from doing double duty as producer and actor---too distracting to the actor!)
I wish Wallis and Rademeyer every success with their cheerfully eccentric Western and hope it finds the audience it deserves here in the States.
I hear 'Good for Nothing' is getting a US release March 9. Don't know how many screens it'll be on, but looking forward.
Here's a trailer.
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