The Unbelievable Truth (1990)

A film can hardly get more lo-fi than Hal Hartlay's The Unbelievable Truth. A scruffy, humorous film reminding me of both Jim Jarmusch and Twin Peaks, this is something both weird and humorous. Josh plays the guy who got out of prison and who is now returning to his home town, where he is received with both admiration and hostility. He gets a job as a car mechanic and of course there is a romantic thing going on between Josh and the boss' daughter who is not very interested in going to college. Lines (often blurred in [intentionally?] bad sound quality) are often stiff, always delivered in a sincere, deadpan way, which creates a comic effects. The settings have a minimalist feel and you end up with the feeling that you inhabit a strange planet where people say familiar things, dress in black and look cool, talk cool. It's a movie where nothing special happens - but then ... Hartlay for sure knows his understatements. The Unbelievable Truth is a blacker-than-black comedy (black melodrama might be a more appropriate term) about suburban life, redemption - and moeny.