Rehmeier, Adam

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    ‘Snack Shack’ Review: The Kids Are Alright

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    Performances from the two main characters elevate this boisterous teen comedy to the level of raunchy art.On the face of it, Adam Rehmeier’s “Snack Shack” is a fairly standard-issue teenage stoner comedy: Lifelong friends in small-town Nebraska spend a summer avoiding town bullies, hustling for cash and competing for the affections of a dreamy neighbor, while boozing, toking and amply cursing in their spare time. But with its rambling momentum and quick-witted, almost musical dialogue, it feels less like “Superbad” than a Robert Altman movie, sort of like a pint-size “California Split.” As if to drive home the comparison, “Snack Shack” starts at an off-track betting parlor.The friends are A.J. (Conor Sherry), the bashful straight man, and Moose (Gabriel LaBelle), the easygoing party animal. It’s a familiar dynamic, but it’s made fresh by the performances, which are exemplary. Sherry plays A.J. with cringing self-loathing, inherited and desperate to be cast off. LaBelle, by contrast, is a whirlwind of manic adolescent enthusiasm: Brash and boisterous, a cross between Kevin McCallister and Steve Stifler, he’s the movie’s bawdy M.V.P. As he delivers the most artful swearing since Peter Capaldi in “In the Loop,” it’s hard to believe that this is the same LaBelle who was recently so wide-eyed and tender as Sammy Fabelman.Rehmeier maintains a good handle on compelling if straightforward material, and he demonstrates commendable restraint: He avoids the easy period jokes that come with the movie’s early ’90s setting, and as the plot takes a dramatic turn in the last act, he keeps clear of sentimentality. He also has a keen sense of what to emphasize and what to downplay. He rushes through the stuff with the bullies, as if wary of clichés, but takes time to linger on moments that matter, like A.J. and his father (the great David Costabile) sharing a well-deserved beer.Snack ShackRated R for strong language, drug and alcohol use, mild violence, some sexual content and wall-to-wall raunchiness. Running time: 1 hour 52 minutes. In Theaters. More

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      ‘Dinner in America’ Review: A Punk-Rock Love Story

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      A rage-fueled rock singer on the run from the police meets and falls in love with a gullible young woman eager to escape her circumstances.Rage is at the center of “Dinner in America,” a film by Adam Rehmeier in which the central characters are at odds with the police, bank tellers, their parents, two-timing bosses and bullying jocks. Fleeing from the cops, Simon (Kyle Gallner) is a punk rocker who leads with anger and violence. Patty (Emily Skeggs) is a naïve 20-year-old eager to break out of her mundane existence, using rock music as an escape. They help each other find their way in a community where both are outcasts.The fault lines in their relationships with their families and those around them are most apparent at the family dinners they attend, where they clash with strait-laced siblings and parents — like Patty’s father, who can’t handle the spiciness of cumin. The film is an ode to the punk-rock scene of the 1990s Midwest, a space where Simon and Patty both find relief from the dullness of the world around them.“Dinner in America” delivers on surprise and explosiveness, but much of its offensive language, both racist and homophobic, feels gratuitous in a film that might have otherwise landed as an offbeat love story. There is, perhaps, an argument to be made for representing a time and place truthfully, but because the film does not critically engage with the uglier elements of the society it portrays, these become a distraction. And a viewer might find it difficult to get sucked into the love and music story at its center.Dinner in AmericaNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 46 minutes. In theaters. More