by Moe Zilla

Created on: March 14, 2008   Last Updated: March 15, 2008

"Buffalo '66" is one of my most favorite movies. Its quirky story follows a loner who returns to his hometown haunted by a bad football bet he'd made five years before. Gradually it shows the emptiness of his life in upstate New York - his indifferent parents and his strange new girlfriend. But each scene is surprising and sometimes very funny.

The movie opens with Vincent Gallo as a young man just released from prison. But the bus taking him to town hasn't arrived yet. He asks the guards to let him back in so that he can use their bathroom, but prisoners aren't allowed back in prison once they've been released. His first act upon returning to town is to use the bathroom at a ballet studio.

Christina Ricci was just 18 years old when she starred in this movie, as a sympathetic young ballet student who overhears Gallo's phone call. The ex-convict kidnaps her, so he'll have a woman with him to impress his parents. But Ricci's character is willing to go along, and she stays with Gallo throughout the rest of the evening. The fact that she's young actually comes to be an important part of her character. Is she falling in love - or is she just bored with tap dancing?

The movie has a lot to offer. It's gradually unfolding story leads to small parts for some good actors, including Rosanna Arquette, Mickey Rourke, and Anjelica Huston. Gallo wrote and directed the movie himself, but he also turns in an intense performance to capture the film's center. There's some very original flourishes in the directing, including a montage which subtly interrupts the story to summarize the characters thoughts. And the music is intimate and bittersweet, allowing Christina Ricci to deliver one of the most poignant tap dances ever filmed.

The movie was actually filmed in Buffalo, lending authenticity to the story of Gallo's ambivalent return home. (The scene where he visits his parents is even filmed in the same house where Gallo grew up.) The film effectively captures the sense of isolation of its wandering young adult. Gallo's character visits a local bowling alley, a doughnut shop, a hotel, and a strip club.

But with all the emptiness around him, can he find his way to a meaningful ending?

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