With a final message full of hope as the endless night becomes day, and the winter in Michael’s heart turns to spring, Drunk Bus seals its place as one of this year’s most engaging college comedies. Blue Finch Film Releasing presents Drunk Bus on Digital Download on May 24th.
Initially destined for an SXSW premiere in 2020, Drunk Bus is about to make its quiet debut on streaming services. As a result, it, unfortunately, like so many films from 2020, risks being forgotten as it drops online. With a title like Drunk Bus, you may expect another bog-standard post-college comedy rooted in classic coming-of-age themes. But after just ten minutes, Drunk Bus offers us something delightfully different in its construction.
Michael (Charlie Tahan) is a young ex-uni student bus driver who navigates the campus circuit every night, picking up drunk students, waifs and strays, and those simply needing a warm space as the snow falls on campus. Michael is caught in the limbo between college life and his future ambitions, and this is only further complicated by the end of a long-term relationship with the ultra-religious Amy, just days after graduation. It’s fair to say that Michael’s life is trapped in a time loop, where every day offers the same routine, the same questions and the same internal doubts.
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Following a rough night at the wheel of his travelling sick bucket and short-stay hotel, Michael’s boss hires some security for the night bus: Pineapple (Pineapple Tangaroa), an intimidating, lively enigma of a man whose face and body are covered in Maori tattoos and piercings. Initially fearing the giant’s presence, Michael insists he doesn’t need protection, but Pineapple quickly proves his worth as Michael’s unruly passengers fall silent in his presence. And it’s not long before Michael and Pineapple strike up a unique friendship of rebirth, hope, excitement and opportunity.
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Written by Chris Molinaro and directed by John Carlucci and Brandon LaGanke, Drunk Bus never succumbs to the lazy college comedy tropes of many of its contemporaries. The journey we take is rich in humour, discussion, and complexity, as Molinaro’s polished, sharp screenplay explores Michael’s journey of joy, trepidation, fear, and change, while simultaneously exploring issues of culture, identity, and perception. The result is a delightful mix of themes, ideas, and discussions that never allows the audience to guess the story’s final trajectory.
Of course, even the best screenplay, direction and cinematography hang on the performances at the heart of any film. Thankfully, Charlie Tahan and Pineapple Tangaroa are genuinely outstanding as two young men thrown together by fate, both on different sides of the road. And with a final message full of hope as the endless night becomes day, and the winter in Michael’s heart turns to spring, Drunk Bus seals its place as one of this year’s most engaging college comedies.
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