Passenger Side

(Canada, 2009, 85 mins, digital video)

Midwest Premiere

cast: Adam Scott, Joel Bissonnette, Robin Tunney
writer: Matthew Bissonette
director of photography: Jonathon Cliff
editor: Matthew Hannam
executive producer: Adam Scott, Corey Marr, Matt Bissonnette
producer: Corey Marr

Two brothers of similar age but differing personalities spend the day driving around Los Angeles in a weathered 1975 green BMW. Michael (Adam Scott) gets a call from his younger brother Tobey (Joel Bissonnette, real-life brother of the director) who begs a favor: he’s got some mysterious stuff he’s got to do, and needs Michael to drive him. It’s clear that Tobey is the underachiever, a recovering addict who doesn’t surprise Michael by sponging a ride and not really revealing the details. And Michael is too well-mannered to deny his brother (a habit that was likely developed two decades earlier in their lives). On the road to take care of Tobey’s business, they pass through parts of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area that reveal what a remarkably diverse city that is. As the often very funny conversation unspools, little details emerge that make clear that for all the surface differences between them, they envy each other. With a soundtrack assembled by Superchunk frontman Mac McGaughan, including Wilco, the Silver Jews, Leonard Cohen, Unrest, Smog, and Guided By Voices. 2009 Los Angeles, Toronto, London Film Festivals.

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