AFI Dallas Film Fest movie review: Shut Up and Shoot Me

by John P. Meyer

Thursday evening's (March 29) screening of Shut Up and Shoot Me, the feature-length directorial debut by Czech filmmaker Steen Agro, sold out its Angelika venue in no small part thanks to the enthusiastic turnout of folks from Arlington.

That's right, Arlington - former home of the film's co-producer, Jeffrey Brown, who attended last night's screening and hung around for a brief Q/A after the end credits.

The film follows the darkly-comic antics of a pair of reluctant accomplices in mayhem: Colin Frampton (Andy Nyman), a British vacationer in Prague whose wife ends up flattened like a pancake in the first reel, and Pavel Zeman (Karel Roden), the jack-of-all-trades-by- fiscal-necessity assigned by the hotel to act as his chauffeur.

Mr. Nyman excels at playing a nerdish yet stubbornly determined innocent bystander who loses all interest in living - in fact, actively pursues his own demise - after the death of his devoted wife. By his continued presence (for, like a pesky housefly, he refuses to exit through the open window) he becomes increasingly annoying and eventually downright dangerous to the Zeman family's well-being, with the result that Pavel grudgingly agrees to kill the poor bastard in return for a large quantity of pounds sterling. Bonus: it will be a relief to be rid of the bloody great whiner.

You'll recognize Karel Roden from his numerous hiss-inducing screen portrayals of Eastern European heavies in films like 15 Minutes, Bulletproof Monk and The Bourne Supremacy; with the role of Pavel, Roden steps away from the sneering natural-born killer mold and establishes that he can also play a world-weary wife-whipped working bloke who only takes up killing as a sideline - more or less as another of his various odd jobs (butcher, deliveryman, sidewalk poop-scooper... contract killer).

The manner in which Pavel orchestrates Colin's demise is so convoluted as to provide a built-in argument for his unsuitability for the profession of hit man. Although he expends considerable effort, the results prove less than satisfactory - particularly when, in retrospect, a bullet to the brain would have been so much more expedient. (Trouble is, Pavel simply doesn't have the stomach for it.)

Through a multiplicity of comic homicidal misadventures - during one of which we discover that Pavel's two-timing wife, Liba (played with cold-blooded calculation by lovely blue-eyed and befreckled Anna Geislerová) has prepared poisoned dumplings for their unwanted house guest - the two men (Pavel and Colin) develop a species of friendship and mutual respect. While there may indeed be no honor among thieves, in the case of these incidental killers there develops at least a shade of forbearance and a modicum of trust.

Liba's unquenchable taste for expensive footwear leads to unwanted attention from the most lethal of local personages, a Humvee-driving, drug-dealing, pain-bringing slab of beef named Karel (who's referred to colloquially as "The Butcher of Prague"). Karel's trademark approach to a "job" involves rapid deployment of his Jack Russell Terrier-on-a-handle by means of a quick-release lever. This shtick must be seen to be appreciated; an audience member later suggested to Mr. Brown that the device be patented, with the thought that sales from the doggy carrier might equal or exceed the film profits.

Co-producer Brown - who married a nice Czech girl, if I'm getting my story straight (some of this comes from the nice lady seated next to me, who is a friend of Brown's sister - yikes, this is starting to sound like a gossip piece) - was in the Czech Republic during production of the film leading up to its completion and release in 2005, and had a number of interesting tidbits to relate about the production and his own experiences. To wit:

* They shot on Super 16 and digitally enlarged to achieve the finished 35mm print.

* Mr. Brown had a previous acquaintance with Mr. Roden which contributed to securing him for the part.

* The actor portraying Karel ("The Butcher of Prague"), Robert Polo, is - per Mr. Brown - not the greatest emoter on the planet, and thus they wrote his part so that he seldom had to speak - he mostly just postures about looking mean and carrying his terrier.

* A key plot element necessitated that filming be done on a frozen-over lake; unfortunately, the production's insurance provider balked at the idea, and furthermore the cameraman - who in all other respects essayed a devil-may-care, tough-guy persona - had a deathly fear of stepping out onto the ice. In the end, all parties came around and the lake stayed solidly frozen for filming.

HARD TO SAY: "She looks terrified. What did you kill her with?" - Colin

"I don't know. Soup, maybe?" - Pavel