Friday Flashback: Rec. #165: Trust

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: In Hal Hartley's film Trust, Adrienne Shelly is a pregnant high school dropout who accidentally caused her father's death. Martin Donovan is a perennial job-quitter-on-principle who always carries a grenade. Both of them have terrible parents. Really, really terrible parents. But at least now they also have each other, and dialogue so dry it sticks in your throat.

And, hey, look! It's a brunette Edie Falco playing Adrienne Shelly's sister.

Comparable to: This is squarely in the middle of the deadpan oddball genre, right alongside Harold and Maude and Cherish.

Representative quote:
"Not because you love me or anything like that?"
"I respect and admire you."
"Is that love?"
"No, that's respect and admiration."

You might not like it if: You get jumpy around grenades, and the way they sometimes go boom.

How to get it: Through this weekend, at least, it's available to watch instantly on Netflix. The disc itself can be quite tricky to find. So I guess what I'm saying is, you might want to watch it on Netflix this weekend. (Oh, and don't confuse this with the 2011 film starring Clive Owen. That was directed by David Schwimmer, not Hal Hartley.)

Connections to previous Wreckage: Spend time with more deadpan oddballs in Cherish (Rec. #29) and Harold and Maude (Rec. #45).

[Originally posted 7/28/11.]

Note on availability: Other things called Trust are currently available to watch instantly on Netflix. But, sadly, not this.