Willard By Justin Remer Justin Remer is an Ohio-born writer and filmmaker, currently living and studying in New York City.

The first three-quarters of Willard is probably one of the best movies of the year; it's just that pesky final stretch that does it in.

Based on the 1971 movie of the same title (which I have not yet seen), Willard stars Crispin Glover doing what he does best: being the awkward, repressed loner weirdo with no friends. Although in this film, Glover has hundreds of friends -- they just happen to be an army of rats who perform acts of vengeful destruction, at Glover's bidding. Writer-director Glen Morgan (co-producing with longtime creative partner James Wong) starts the film off in full Jeunet-and-Caro mode -- with dark, rich cinematography, rotting set design, and enough extreme camera moves to give someone Delicatessen-deja vu. But it works tremendously well... at least until Willard falls prey to a severe case of generic-third-act autopilot, which pretty much undermines everything achieved to that point.

I would say that you should walk out of the theater before it ends, except then you would miss one bizarre highlight: Glover's rendition of Michae Jackson's "Ben" over the end credits.

                                                                 © FILM JOURNAL 2002