Dear Wendy (2005)

One shot is all it takes.

Starring: Jamie Bell, Bill Pullman, Michael Angarano, Danso Gordon, Novella Nelson, Chris Owen, Alison Pill, Mark Webber, Trevor Cooper, Matthew Géczy, William Hootkins, Teddy Kempner, Bo Larsen

Director: Thomas Vinterberg

Running Time: 101 minutes

US MPAA rating: N/A
UK BBFC rating: 15
Action, Comedy, Drama, Romance

In the dusty town of Estherslope, young Dick (Jamie Bell) has no parents, no friends, no self-confidence, and no desire to work in the mines like everyone else. Yet upon discovering that a tiny antique pistol in his possession is no toy, Dick gathers other town misfits and 'losers' around him and forms a secret pacifist gun club called the Dandies. Meeting in an abandoned mine, sporting old-fashioned costumes, quaffing port and building up proficiency with their firearms (referred to as 'partners' and each given a person's name), the Dandies swear never to show off publicly or 'wake up' their guns - but when Sheriff Krugsby (Bill Pullman) asks Dick to look after Sebastian (Danso Gordon), who is on probation for shooting someone ("it wasn't necessarily my fault"), old enmities, jealousy, machismo and self-righteousness propel the Dandies towards consummating the act for which they have been destined from the moment they first picked up their partners.

Some nine years after Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg penned the Dogme 95 Manifesto whose ten 'Vows of Chastity' included a strict ban on the use of guns as props in films, it seems only fitting that the maverick Danes' first feature collaboration, 'Dear Wendy', should be fully loaded with pistols and rifles. Written by Von Trier and directed by Vinterberg, the film is a tongue-in-cheek celebration of America's long love affair with the gun, as well as a satirical critique of the West's paradoxical claims to be a well-armed bringer of peace. All this is wrapped up in a zero-to-hero coming-of-age tale whose smalltown whimsy has an unexpectedly powerful recoil. And while it is, like Von Trier's

It's Got: A bizarre love triangle, a surreal townsquare standoff, and a whole lot of guns.

It Needs: Kevlar.

Alternatives: 'Bullet Ballet', 'Gun Crazy', 'Full Metal Jacket', Dogville', 'Young Guns'

Summary: This satirical love letter to America's gun culture has a very high calibre. Overall Score: 8 out of 10