Review of Pete Smalls Is Dead (2010) by Lanky Man P — 19 Aug 2012

There's so much to love about this movie that it's hard to know where to begin. The cast is impeccable, with Peter Dinklage in the leading role as Munk, the sad screenwriter beaten down by the world to such an extent that all he has left is his old dog.

So cut off from his former life in Hollywood that he is running a lousy laundry in NY, Munk is drawn back into his strange circle of friends and the bitter betrayals that caused him to leave in the first place.

Dinklage carries this film with immense dignity and pathos, while actors famous and not-so-famous cavort and swirl around him. Tim Roth. Carol Kane. Rosie Perez. Steve Buscemi in a Goldilocks wig. Even Lena Headey (who plays Dinklage's sister Cercei in "Game of Thrones") passes through.

All of this adds to the eerie otherworldliness of this tale, one that culminates with a Fellini-esque party. "Pete Smalls" has a strange and complicated plot, but it all comes together by the last reel.

Thoughtful, smart, and easily misunderstood, this movie is worth viewing if you are willing to scratch below the surface.