Spanning three decades, Ryan Graham’s comic masterpiece Livelihood has elements of a standard zombie film, in that the dead rise from their graves and wander the streets – however, that’s about as far as the similarities extended. Livelihood, for all intents and purposes, is about as removed from a standard zombie film as you can get.
Existing in an almost parallel reality, a nondescript calamity has forced an earthly ascension of those who have long since deceased. Pustular and smelling of decay, these nauseatingly repellent beings, zombies, quickly make their way out of the graveyards and into the cities. However, this is where director-writer Graham chooses to flex a creatively ambitious muscle by having these zombies attempting to acclimatize, rather than feed.
Standard zombies these are not, as their minds and human desires remain intact. These ‘people’ act as though they’ve simply re-emerged from a long nap, although a little tattered in a physical sense, they are only interested in getting back their lives. There is some prejudice against them, of course, and they look and smell a little odd, but they adjust fairly well.
This plot definitely has elements of a good idea, but sadly the writer (or, in this case, three writers) isn’t clear on how to expand on it. Graham’s spasm of avant-garde thought gives way to three distinct storylines which feel recycled from any of the multitude of pedestrian soap operas. Not to say that it’s a bad thing, cause it really isn’t, it’s just that I wish more could have been made of Graham’s initial idea; the social, financial and religious implications of it all.
The story follows the life, death and resurrection of three very different people, and their attempt to reclaim those things they enjoyed before fate, or whatever, took it away.
First off there is Billy Jump (Stephen B. Thomas), a 1980s Big Hair Rock God whose fall from grace, enhanced by a never-ending infusion of drugs and alcohol, has left him snarly and mean, a veritable shadow of a person barely in touch with his own sanity. Following an awkward scene where Billy angrily fires his bandmates, he decides to lock himself away in his dressing room for a night of unprecedented excess. In an interesting irony, his own livelihood, his electric guitar, would play a prominent role in ushering forth his eventual demise.
Next up is Alexander Keaton (Scott P. Graham), who is possibly the most sympathetic character of the bunch, playing slave to both his cantankerous girlfiend and his lecherous boss. The ultimate optimist, Keaton has only one desire, to live the all-American dream; a wife, kids and a white picket fence. Sadly, the road to prosperity has some really sharp edges – something he learns all too well early in the film. Working late into the night destroying documents for his boss, Mr. Endicott, Keaton finds himself facing down a man dressed in a Samurai suit. He doesn’t fare well, as Keaton is decapitated in one smooth slice.
The last person in our story is Vida, played by Michelle Trout. Although their piece features some of the best acting, it is ultimately the least absorbing of the three story lines. Jean (Amy Smith) and Roger (Lewis Smith) appear to be a very loving couple, at least on the surface. However, the continued presence of Roger’s mother, Vida, has started to take a toll on Jean, who finds herself unable to live up Vida’s unreasonable expectations of what a good wife would be for her son. Jean has sought therapy, but it doesn’t seem to be doing much to ease the problem. One day while fixing dessert Jean adds an extra ingredient, a poisonous substance, into Vida’s tapioca pudding. The end result, Vida dying into her half eaten bowl of pudding, is to Jean’s liking. Those pangs of guilt that Jean is supposed to feel, in light of her nefarious transgression, remain absent. This is elaborated on in a strangely written follow-up scene between Roger and her.
Focusing mere minutes on the whole ‘dead-rising-from-the-grave’ segment, Graham wastes little time moving into the second act. When you realize that his intentions aren’t in presenting another prosaic zombie flick, you quickly understand his reasons for refraining from routine.
Three new, interesting and unexpected elements arise as our main characters, now zombies, attempt to reintegrate themselves into their former lives. Much of the film is shot cinema verite style using a hand held Sony VX1000, which gives us a more intimate feel for the characters and their individual dilemmas. We can’t help but sympathize with them, for the most part. We feel their sadness, their anger, and of course, their happiness.
Billy Jump, the longest deceased, and most outwardly decayed, is seeking to get his band back together. A changed man, Jump sees his resurrection as a chance to make right the things that went wrong before and even maybe finally get serious about his chosen vocation. He seeks out his former friend, deaf keyboardist Beat Ovin (Mike Bennett), the only member of his band he felt possessed any talent. This storyline has the greatest potential for comedy and it delivers all around. From Billy’s loud speeches in falsetto, to Ovin’s wide-eyed attempts at comprehension, this is pure hilarity. Their recruitment of various bandmates, which play in a series of witty sketches, is also very funny. When Billy and his newly-formed band jump up on the stage at the end of the film to belt out a song, you’ll find yourself rejoicing in their triumph of spirit, while laughing at the sheer absurdity of it all.
Keaton, with his head firmly tethered to his shoulders, attempts to return home, but finds his girlfriend in bed with one of his female co-workers. His girlfriend, who is about as sympathetic as an ice storm in the arctic, sends him packing. After scrounging up enough courage to ask his old boss for his job back, he is rewarded with a lowly caterer position. Making the best of his situation, Keaton strikes up a friendship with Endicott’s attractive daughter, Zoey, played by the extremely talented Kara Webb. Zoey is the black nail polish, goth variety girl, but she’s got a kind heart and despite her father’s objections (or maybe because of it), she decides to pursue a romantic relationship with Keaton. It’s a relationship that truly becomes the emotional center of the movie. Eventually all the sneaking around they go through to be together pays off when they stumble upon some very important, and very illegal, information regarding Zoey’s father. There’s also another neat twist involving the samurai from earlier, the one that killed Keaton, which will probably bug you until the final revelation. I know it bugged me.
The last story involving Vida returning home to torment Jean some more, while getting re-acquainted with her son, plays out as a low-budget take on the Lopez-Fonda vehicle Monster In-Law, but with a darker whimsicality. I’ve never been a fan of dark comedies where the main characters spend the film hurting each other, and this segment is no different; plus, it’s just plain vulgar. It’s like Graham was saving his gross-out humor for this segment, and sometimes it’s a little much. There are moments when the characters act in such a way as to advance the plot, or at least set-up a joke, but sadly, it’s a glaringly obvious and the pay-off doesn’t always work because of it. The acting by Trout and Smith is really quite good, and collectively, the two make for some great moments, but the piece, so dark and mean-spirited, sticks out like a sore thumb. On a plus side, some of the physical stuff between the two actresses plays out as interesting, if not a little fun, and the final twist, involving the son, is quite good. Lewis Smith, who underplays his role, coming across as the stoic Roger, almost weak in the first half, has a surprisingly effective about-face in the finale.
Although Graham resisted the urge to use his film as a discourse for some kind of grand political statement, he does manage to get in the odd jab. Between, breaking up each story with a humorous commercial hawking some product for zombies, and the executives at Kashgrab Records, who are the first to see the possibilities of successfully marketing a real-live dead singer, you get the sense that Graham is making a pronouncement about how the US has become a overly-consumerist, over-commercialized culture. Outrageous as it may seem, you get the sense that it’s not that far from the truth. He also makes broad statements about racism, corporate corruption and the widening divide between socio-economic classes. If I would have dug a little deeper, I’m sure I probably could have found more.
Overall I was quite impressed with the film. Graham has an interesting and unique and original vision, and it’ll be interesting to see where it will take him in the future.
Three and a half stars.
