The suspension of disbelief is key to watching films, but at some point you have to have to put your foot down. No one as beautiful as Michael Fassbender would be living in such squalor.
In Trespass Among Us, Fassbender plays Chad Cutler, the second generation in a small band of Irish travellers living somewhere in the west country. He’s the only one in the group who wears a collared shirt (hell, some hardly wear clothes at all) and his is the trailer with plastic covering over the couch cushions. His father, Colby (Brendan Gleeson), loves nothing more than telling tall tales around the campfire, making flat-Earth arguments and reminding his grandchildren not to believe anything they learn at school.
It’s important to Chad and his wife (Lyndsey Marshall) that the kids get an education. Chad never learned to read or write and, as such, would have no prospects if he every decided to leave the clan. He dreams of doing so, but despite the usual shouting, cussing and carrying on, he doesn’t seem to be having too miserable a time. Being an outlaw can be a giggle.
The Cutlers’ main activity seems to be riding around in meadows at high speeds in stolen cars. Chad works the pedals while either his young son or daughter is at the wheel. Sometimes they ride into town, much to the chagrin of the most bumbling police force ever committed to film. But eventually they do need to make money, which involves smashing into houses and stealing things.
There isn’t much of a traditional plot in Trespass Against Us, but what there is comes when Colby tells Chad they have to pull off a proverbial “big score”. Chad is hesitant, but mostly because it’s on a Sunday, and he doesn’t like to work Sundays. Unless he only said that as a joke. I gotta be honest: it’s really hard to tell, and not just because of the very thick accents to this American’s ears. Everything about this picture is at such a deliberate arm’s length that it is hard to know what is meant to be whimsical and what is serious melodrama.
There’s an unexpected turn in the final section that really pours on the quirk (the music cues become more noticeable) but by this time it’s too little too late. The film wants us to fall in love with this extended band of outcasts, but really, there isn’t all that much to love. They aren’t even doing anything with the money they steal! But Gleeson and Fassbender, given plenty of space in what are ultimately meandering scenes, are still somewhat electrifying. There is a lot of roughhousing and physical intimacy with the Cutler family, and this lived-in quality goes a long way toward making everything believable.
It’s doubly unfortunate, then, that there’s next to nothing about the wider culture. There’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot of some bareknuckle brawlers at some sort of carnival, but Trespass Against Us would rather push the crime angle of the story, hoping we’ll root for Chad to elude the cops one last time.
First time feature director Adam Smith shoots the many chases in a unique and effective manner. Basically everything is either too dark or obfuscated, so it’s impossible to see anything. I was a nervous wreck in anticipation of an inevitable loud crash. But these moments of excitement don’t make up for what is ultimately a slow burn study of characters that aren’t nearly as interesting as the movie thinks they are.
