Review of Buffalo '66 (1998) by Spangle — 13 Apr 2014

Buffalo '66 is simply an ok film. It is an interesting character study of a very damaged man who is struggling throughout with the demons of his life. The film is at times very dark, funny, quirky, and absurd, but mostly the last of those. Usually, I do not have a problem with absurd scenarios, but with this one being essentially based around an absurd scenario (well, not based around, but a large part of it concerns it) is annoying. It really distracts you from the film. On top of that, I get what Vincent Gallo was going for in terms of his character Billy Brown, but it was a little overdone to the point that his quirkiness is overwhelming, and much like the absurdity, annoying. The film is far from horrible, but these negatives really took away from my enjoyment of it.

In terms of positives, the aforementioned characterizaton of Billy Brown was really done well, as well as his transformation throughout the film. The Billy Brown we first meet is totally different than the one the film ends with and it is enjoyable to watch this transformation take place throughout the film. In addition, the acting by Vincent Gallo and Christina Ricci was quite good and really helped to carry this film.