Review of 25 Watts (2001) by Pedro P — 13 Apr 2009

Oh man, what a cool little film. I hadn't missed teenagehood this much in a long time.

This slow-burning slacker comedy from Uruguay clearly owes a debt to Rick Linklater, Kevin Smith and, especially, early Jarmusch. It's shot in b/w, and its three feckless young anti-heroes do nothing much over the weekend quite stylishly, pondering the implications of getting dog shit on their shoes, for example, or riffing on what it means if your girlfriend gives you a hamster (definitely nothing good). If the characters sound like dim bulbs, well, there's plenty to relate to - and Rebella and Stoll have lots of cool tricks up their sleeves. Just get a load of that vinyl rpm PoV shot, for example.

Fun.