“Bums” is a second feature film by Jason and Brett Butler who, like the Coens and the Farrellys, like to refer to themselves as the Butler Brothers. While I found their “Alive and Lubricated” to be a flawed but likable comedy, I suspect viewers will enjoy “Bums” a lot more. Made several years after “Alive and Lubricated”, “Bums” is a more solid and mature movie. Dave (Jason Butler) is the first character to appear. He sits in his car and rehearses what he thinks he should say to a girl. Moments later he dumps his girlfriend, Jill (Tessa Sproule). Jill claims she is being dumped for liking The Beatles more than The Rolling Stones.
A few scenes later, Dave and Don (Brett Butler) sit in a restaurant and discuss women. Dave says, “We need to support each other. So you be my wing man.” Don answers, “Iceman and Maverick.” Dave replies, “Jules and Vincent.” Iceman and Maverick are two characters from the movie “Top Gun.” Jules and Vincent are Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta’s character names in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction.” The Butler Brothers are passionate about filmmaking and we sense this in their dialogue whenever one of the characters makes a clever reference another film. In “Alive and Lubricated”, there is mention of Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street” and George Lucas’ “Star Wars.”
Don and Dave go to a friend’s house to buy some marijuana. Meanwhile, Jill and her friend Heather (Karen Suzuki) stay indoors, drinking, discussing men in general, and the break-up. Heather says, “All guys are pathological monogamists or pathological polygamists.” Jill adds, “We’re just pathological.” The editing is superb here. The film jumps from the scenes involving the girls to those involving the guys and vice versa. Certain films strive to keep track of all their characters and subplots. More often than not, the experience is dizzying. Here, however, it is done right and pleasant. Just as we begin to wonder about the girls, they appear. When we begin to wonder where the boys have gone, they emerge again. It’s delightful and not one scene here is thrown away. The pacing works, the actors are believable, and we care about them. “Bums” is more inventive than “Alive and Lubricated.” There is use of the split-screen effect here, which is ingenious rather than distracting. And, the Butler Brothers were wise in not exhausting the idea of the split-screen. Less is more. This time around, the Butler Brothers understand that and have consequently made a better film.