Pete Smalls Is Dead

2010 comedy

Rating: 12/20

Plot: K.C., a former screenwriter who can't get over the tragedy of losing a loved one, owes ten thousand dollars to a loan shark who has stolen his dog. He's lured back to Los Angeles to attend the funeral of his titular deceased former colleague by another friend who promises to help him out of his financial troubles. They ride on a scooter through a muddy, convoluted mystery plot that I had trouble understanding.

I only popped this in because I wasn't able to finish I Am a Sex Addict and needed another movie with a full sentence for a title. Well, that and the Peter Dinklage, former Billy Curtis Award winner. And then look who shows up to complete my Mark Boone Junior trifecta! Mark Boone Junior, the only man who is capable of completing a Mark Boone Junior trifecta. Gosh, I really wanted to like this one, mostly because it seems like it was made for The Big Lebowski fans. Indeed, there were a few parallels--Dinklage's got Bridges' facial hair, Mark Boone Junior reminds me a bit of Goodman's character, Steve Buscemi makes an appearance in this ridiculous curly blond wig, there's a twisty and barely-or-maybe-not-even-decipherable neo-noir storyline, and a missing rug. Well, it's a dog, not a rug. That's pretty close to the same thing though. Buster Keaton also makes an appearance on a pair of postcards and a book of matches. But even though this was occasionally very funny--a panda costume heist; a funeral with bags on heads and a corpse made of marzipan; the sight of seeing Mark Boone Junior and a football-helmeted Peter Dinklage on a scooter--it's frequently more frustrating. Dinklage is really good as the straight man in this. Tim Roth and Rosie Perez, two performers who have an ability to take something already kind of messy and make an even bigger mess, are also in this. I really wanted to like this, mostly so that I could introduce it as a little sleeper to my 4 1/2 readers and be some kind of hero. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me.