Here's a parable for you. This little old lady was leaving the grocery store when she noticed a gang of three young men breaking into her car; fortunately she had the presence of mind to draw the gun she was carrying and scared them off. However, as she got into the vehicle she found the key didn't fit the ignition, and she wondered what all this paraphernalia was inside - it was then she realised she was in the wrong car. Embarrassed, she stopped off at the police station where the desk sergeant laughed and told her three guys had been in here to report the incident, but all's well that ends well, and er, that's the story.
Which is all very well, Father William, but what does it have to do with Jesus Christ? This was a brief comedy feature which went to some very strange places, making it almost a horror movie except the intention appeared to be to either to provoke laughter or outright bafflement, perhaps both. Even from the beginning where the priest (Steve Little, familiar to fans of T.V.'s Eastbound & Down among other things) relates an urban myth rather than a passage from the Bible you could tell this was an odd item, though whether they were sending up religion - Father Billy is rather unorthodox for a man of the cloth - or endorsing it was open to question.
The main plot concerned the priest's obsession with an ex-boyfriend of his sister's, who he thinks is a rock star and writer when he's only a roadie for a band. Billy cannot see past his childhood adulation of Robbie Shoemaker (Robert Longstreet) where he lapped up every piece of scribbling the older boy penned and every tune he sang for his metal band, whereas Robbie cannot remember him at all and only agrees to meet him in this diner out in the middle of nowhere because the priest has bombarded him with over fifty e-mails. When they do meet, he is sufficiently amused to agree to go on a canoe trip with him, just for the day, as Billy has holiday time that has been forced upon him by his superior.
What could be the trigger for the craziness to come might be the scene where Father Billy is in the public toilet and accidentally drops his precious Bible into the bowl full of shit, and cannot bring himself to retrieve it. Does this mean that symbolically the holy man is giving up his calling for the duration of the trip? It certainly seems as if the Almighty has given up on him in light of what eventually happens, though to be fair Billy is not exactly a model of religious faith and has more stumbled into the job, indeed there are scenes here where he makes Father Ted seem professional, so you could legitimately inquire of him "Where's your God now, little man?!" when events are brought to a head. If you see what I mean.
Billy and Robbie set off on their trip, but somehow miss their stop along the river where they were meant to turn back and get lost, not least because Billy has gotten completely drunk on one can of beer. As they sit by the bank and ponder their next move, they notice the three other canoeists who they met at the supplies store travelling down the water, and call them over. Bad move, but not in a Deliverance kind of way, this is far more bizarre than that, as the two Japanese girls who call themselves Tom Sawyer (Koko Lanham) and Huckleberry Finn (Ann Maddox), with their hulking, unspeaking "bodyguard" Jim (Rico A. Comic) settle down with the duo for a night of storytelling. That being a preoccupation with the film, especially the idea of telling stories which have no apparent point or satisfying conclusion, a state which director Todd Rohal not so much flirted with as plunged straight into. Similarly, no way was this going to please everyone, but if you liked it weird, this had a good few laughs. Music by Joseph Stevens.
