HE-BOY/SHE-BOY: SPORK
Vol. 6 Issue 61
05/18/2011
by Samuel Bernstein, West Hollywood, California
http://wehonews.com/z/wehonews/archive/page.php?articleID=6088There's a throw-away moment about halfway through writer/director J.B. Ghuman Jr.'s passionately impertinent new movie Spork (opening Friday, May 20, at the Laemmle Sunset 5) that shows its true heart. Elaine Hendrix, a film and television veteran who has been a memorable series regular or guest star on seemingly every show ever aired on CBS, lurches into frame. She is a boozy, trailer park homage to Baby Jane Hudson. In her deadpan haze she looks at Spork, takes in the fourteen year-old hermaphrodite's quiet desperation, then reaches into her bag and gets a lipstick. Slipping it into Spork's hand she mumbles, "This'll help."
It's a funny moment, but it's also well-observed, understated, and imbued with a weird, unexpected sweetness—and it goes a long way to understanding what makes the film tick and why it works.
