NO DIRECTION HOME : Darren Lemke’s ‘Lost’ [7/10]

Published on: January 5th, 2006

nb – the reviews of How To Eat Your Watermelon and Going Through Splat which previously appeared on this page are temporarily unavailable

    When you watch a 1940s B-picture road-movie mini-classic like Detour or Where Danger Lives, it's all too easy to sigh "ah, they don't make 'em like that anymore." Indie gem Lost proves that they do make 'em like that any more – although in fact "they" never really stopped. If you know where to look, in pretty much every decade you'll find several stripped-down, admirably no-nonsense thrillers featuring men (and it is usually men) in peril on the American blacktop. It's a noble sub-genre – in recent years John Dahl's Road Kill (aka Joy Ride) and Jonathan Mostow's Breakdown spring most readily to mind. Both of which, like Lost and Robert Harmon's misfire Highwaymen, owing a particular debt to Spielberg's Duel.
    Here the harrassed driver is Jeremy Stanton (Dean Cain), a brash, collar-and-tie-wearing, thirtysomething yuppie whose journey inadvertently leads him around Nevada's barren back-of-beyond. His mobile phone is seldom far from his ear as he seeks assistance from 'Road Aid' navigator Judy (Ashley Scott), chats to his wife (Irina Bjorklund) and child at home, and discusses a business transaction with his best pal Chester (Justin Henry, a long way from Kramer Vs Kramer). 
    Low on fuel, Jeremy narrowly makes it to a middle-of-nowhere gas station where, at the seventeen-minute mark, Lost delivers the first of numerous twists – which are all the more effective for being so unexpected. It wouldn't be fair to go into detail here, as the less you know going into Lost the better – suffice it to say that a mysterious figure named Archer becomes pivotal to Jeremy's journey, and that Archer is played by American cinema's current hatchet-faced villain of choice, the ever-wonderful Danny Trejo.
    Lemke's adroit handling of Trejo/Archer is one of several elements which lifts Lost above the ordinary run of low-budget thrillers to be found in the late-night schedules of the world's TV stations and on the shelves of video stores. Then again, such unpromising locations are precisely where Lost will quietly nestle, waiting to delight the unsuspecting punter. Because Lost delivers terrific value for money, even at a terse 80 minutes of action: the end credits unspool at a leisurely pace over the remaining five (accompanied by a particularly amusing and well-chosen rendition of US folk classic 'Three Jolly Rogues of Lynn.') 
    This is Lemke's debut feature, and his direction isn't without the odd rough edge here and there – he's rather over-fond of jarringly brief jumpcut flashbacks, for example – but his script is tense and comic in all the right places. Indeed, in its economy and drive it's reminiscent of the screen-stories by Larry Cohen which ended up as Hollywood releases Phone Booth and Cellular (the latter as under-rated as the former was over-). 
    Plausibility isn't by any means the strongest suit of these films – in Lost, the more attentive viewer may marvel at the capacity of Jeremy's battery and that his signal remains so strong even in the remotest areas (where the thoroughfares boast delightfully quaint names like 'Old Plank Road' and 'Little Egg Highway'). But the actions barrels along with such zip (hats off to editor Bob Joyce) that we rarely really have the time or the inclination to dwell on any plot-holes. Unlike the hapless Jeremy, we don't need any map or 'Road-Aid' service – Lemke steers us briskly from A to B, and indeed on to Z: his last shot is an absolute killer. 
    No doubt as its 'sleeper' cult slowly develops, there will be plenty of people who will want to read Lost in terms of psychology, politics and socio-economics. And it's undeniable that, as Jeremy's misfortunes pile up, you do wonder if Lemke is aiming for some kind of fable or morality tale. On reflection, however, it's more likely to be a case of what Woody Allen was getting at in the final moments of Stardust Memories when one critic asks the other "What do you think his Rolls-Royce represents?", and his colleague responds "I think it represents his car."

Neil Young
5th January, 2006

LOST : [7/10] : USA 2004 : Darren LEMKE : 85 mins (timed) : recent film festivals include Antelope Valley and 'Hatchfest.' Seen on DVD at home in Sunderland (UK), 5th January (with thanks to Kevin Matossian)