Chocolate Strawberry Vanilla (UK Blu-ray / DVD)
Gareth Jones
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Starring Glenn Maynard, Kyrie Capri, Aston Elliot, Louise Bremner
Directed by Stuart Simpson
Distributed by Monster Pictures UK
Warren Thompson (Maynard) is a human doormat. Mild-mannered and meek to a fault, he scrapes together a living as the proprietor of an ice cream van on the outskirts of a run-down Australian town. Initial impressions of Warren as he prepares for his workday are of an affable sort – a man filled with positivity and love for the world… but then he backs over his cat when setting off for the day.
Thus begins a series of events that gradually tease at the lid of Warren’s bubbling rage and frustration. So shy is he that every put-down, every rip-off and every encounter with characters such as the aggressive local pimp, whose corner spot Warren’s van sits opposite, steadily packs more and more dismay into his being – visualised in Warren’s habitual topping up of his dead cat’s food bowl, far beyond capacity. A guy with no outlet for his frustrations but internalised anger, we know that it’s only a matter of time before poor Warren blows his top… and so we’re on the slow road to see whether that’s going to happen within the confines of Chocolate Strawberry Vanilla‘s narrative scope.
Well, saying that Warren has no outlet is perhaps disingenuous. Keeping him going on a daily basis is an obsession with television starlet Katey George – star of the hilariously realised TV soap “Round the Block”. Warren watches the show every night, occasionally masturbating to Katey’s image and declaring his love for her on his video diaries. Things start to look up when Katey appears at Warren’s van looking to buy some ice cream. Turns out she’s shooting an episode nearby, and an elated Warren soon decides that the time is right to ask her out on a date and fulfil his dreams.
Director Stuart Simpson (who previously helmed Monstro!) paces his story very well, painting Warren’s total breakdown as a consistently upsetting inevitability. While he may be unhinged, and in many ways the definition of a truly pathetic human being, Warren quickly manages to work his way into your heart thanks to a wonderful performance by Glenn Maynard. He never feels like an actor playing a role – immersed so deeply into the character that every word in his video diaries feels genuinely heartfelt, like a message from a friend. He’s a simple, confused and lonely soul just trying to get by in a world that has no space for him.
And thus Simpson teases both you and his protagonist as the film progresses – you just know that it’s headed, a la Taxi Driver, towards an explosion of violence. You know it won’t be pretty when Warren’s long, long fuse eventually runs out. But you’re always hoping that he won’t come off too badly in the end.
The almost constant downer of seeing the pitiable Warren being tortured by every large and small occurrence makes for a rough ride, but Simpson injects Chocolate Strawberry Vanilla with plenty of deliciously dark humour and funny asides, such as a series of mirthsome TV ads that Warren comes across, and a few rather funny names credited in the opening sequence of “Round the Block”. The soap itself is also a spot-on parody of prolific Australian soaps “Neighbours” and “Home and Away”. Blackly hilarious too is Warren’s main nemesis, in the form of Aston Elliot as pimp/drug dealer Rocko – foul-mouthed and full of swagger, he’s the kind of overtly aggressive and confident person that feels like he could only ever ride roughshod over the spineless likes of Warren; all mouth and no trousers, yet he’s a dominating presence in Warren’s misery. Sequences such as Warren imagining himself winning the day as a Wild West gunslinger, and calling a granny-sex line only to end up spending hours enthusiastically talking to what is obviously a bloke on the other end about “Round the Block”, also do their part to add a gleeful spark to the proceedings.
Maynard’s performance here really can’t be understated, and when Warren’s eventual breakdown hits, he makes the very moment that the rope snaps completely visible, and utterly devastating. There’s no going back, and while some may find the ending somewhat of a damp squib, what actually happens there hearkens back to much of what Warren has described about his problem with bullies and anger control in the past through his video diaries. It’s a clever, well constructed choice by writer Addison Heath, even if it won’t wholly satisfy in revenge terms, nor for those looking for a more bloodthirsty and cathartic killing spree.
Monster Pictures UK serve up Chocolate Strawberry Vanilla to DVD sporting a selection of cast and crew interviews, running around 13 minutes and peppered with behind the scenes footage; 7 minutes of deleted scenes that appear to have been wisely trimmed or excised for pacing reasons; the complete sequences of “Round the Block” episodes that Warren is seen watching in the movie, broken up by the hilarious fake ads and news reports also glimpsed; the short film Baby Did a Bat Bat Thing, which is pretty rough in terms of the filmmaking, but kitschy and crazy enough to make it worth a look; a full feature commentary with actors Glenn Maynard and Aston Elliot, writer Addison Heath and director Stuart Simpson. It’s four Australian guys sitting in a room talking about their movie – so of course it’s fun! Finally, a couple of trailers for the main feature and a selection of other Monster Pictures releases brings it to a close.
Special Features:
- Feature Commentary with Stuart Simpson, Glenn Maynard, Aston Elliot and Addison Heath
- Cast and Crew Interviews
- Deleted Scenes
- Trailers
- Full Round the Block Episodes
- Baby Did a Bat Bat Thing Short Film
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Film
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Special Features
Categorized:Reviews
