For Branden Nadon
Leave it to the Canadians to produce an upbeat film with themes of drug addiction, incest, prostitution, and child neglect.
My theory about Jet Boy’s odd tone, is that the writer appreciated that these difficult themes are harrowing enough on their own, and that the audience appreciates this too, therefore the writer did not feel the need to dwell on them any further. Instead, Jet Boy is more constructively about two lonely souls who eventually find one another.
Despite some fast-paced thriller elements towards the conclusion, this is actually a very gentle movie. Almost pastoral in nature. With the largely acoustic soundtrack and purposefully-laconic editing aiding the rambling tone. And I am one who appreciates a rambling tone.
I would recommend watching Jet Boy twice, as you will find its unnecessary grand twist answering many questions you may/will have raised by the end. These questions could be called “confusion”, but I don’t feel like being that harsh. While I believe the film is old enough now to divulge this final revelation, it is central enough to the overall story that I fear it will ruin things for the reader if I do.
But a second viewing will not be hard, as, despite the aforementioned gritty themes, Jet Boy is a very charming experience. I much prefer a story that doesn’t resort to stock conflict in order to engross the audience. Such cheap writing techniques have become tragically prevalent over the past twenty years of cinema, which I’m rather sad about. Instead, Jet Boy understands that negative events are a key part of life, as well as positive events, so let’s deal with them without resorting to self-defeating outrage and righteous ranting and raving.
To boil this down to one simple phrase: shit happens.
I was initially going to describe this as a “road movie”, but our two protagonists only really spend one scene travelling any great distance together. It does have a road movie vibe though, as the characters always feel like they’re travelling somewhere, even if it’s just emotionally.
Did I really just type that?!
It’s still not terribly clear to me what the film’s title is a reference to, but I’m guessing it’s the tattoo a character has put on their arm in an early scene. If this is the case, I feel the script should have explicitly told the audience with dialogue. If not, then I’ll go ahead and assume that “Jet Boy” is meant to be ambiguous, similar to Gus Van Sant’s Elephant (a film which requires you to know nothing about it ahead of time).
The slow-paced editing, while succeeding in creating the film’s intended tone, could have been sped-up here and there, just a little, to tighten some eye-rolling dialogue. This, however, doesn’t become an issue on a second viewing, as you are by then prepared for it. Branden Nadon, in his first film role, sometimes struggles with his precocious tough-guy dialogue, but the character’s hard exterior is suppose to fall a little flat, due to his melancholic interior. It’s otherwise a captivating performance, and he holds his side of the dual-lead roles admirably.
Branden Nadon sadly passed away in 2023.
His co-star, Dylan Walsh, steps up from what I assume is a solid filmography of supporting roles (if you don’t recognise his name, you will have seen him about), to craft an incredibly likeable antihero. Walsh skilfully embellishes even the most mundane line of dialogue with his character’s complex personality and physical traits. Walsh is always on and, since they spend much of the film together, I’m guessing mentored the young Nadon as they went. The pair share an endearing chemistry, which was always going to be crucial for the story to work.
The twist ending also helps to explain certain elements of the story which I initially put down to being a symptom of the gentle Canadian spirit. In particular, one character is accidentally shot at by another, but the former doesn’t get angry about it even in the slightest. They are just mildly surprised and more concerned that the weapon’s recoil has injured the shooter. There are also interactions with side characters that raise questions, with such apparently-incomprehensible moments eventually being explained. The story works with certain information being kept from the viewer, but I would have preferred it if the writer had come up with something more open, rather than resorting to such shenanigans.
But despite my misgivings about some elements of the screenplay, it is one that injects great importance into every line. Even the seemingly-mundane. I found wearing headphones helped greatly in concentrating and picking up on some softly-spoken deliveries. There is so much detail about backstory and motivation and intention, that you will surely miss out if you take a backseat approach to what is being said. There aren’t many films out there with that much attention to detail, which is an achievement very much in Jet Boy’s favour.
It’s a pity the film doesn’t push more for accepting alternative family structures, as the ending sees our protagonists succumbing to a “normal” white, heterosexual, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant unit. This may not be the intended outcome for hypothetical events beyond the film’s cut to credits, but it certainly feels that way. Two characters divulge weighty secrets to one another during a pivotal scene, secrets that would be healthier divulged in a broader sense, but they remain secrets. However, the film hints at the notion that they may not remain secrets for very long, as the satellite characters to this moment seem open-minded enough to be trusted.
Some viewers may accuse Jet Boy of hypocrisy, with the theme of sexual exploitation being undercut by Nadon, playing much younger than his 16 years (the age of consent in Canada) spending many scenes shirtless. One could argue the character could have worn a vest, but, being pretty liberal on the subject (without condoning anything illegal), I’m fine with it. Conservative elements of our current knee-jerk society may not.
So, if you can find a copy of this potentially-controversial film (mine had to come from Germany), then I’d recommend purchasing Jet Boy without a doubt. It deals with its dark issues without resorting to bad melodrama in order to provoke unhelpful emotions from its viewers. The film is calm, rational, logical, and, most importantly, filled with hope and love. If I never watch it again, I will certainly never forget it.
A very sweet film indeed.
Oh and I’m not sure whether it was intentional or not, but during one scene a character walks by a sign that reads: “FREE PARKING IN REAR”, just after said character, a rent boy, has offered their body up to another character at no charge.
Just thought I’d leave on that note.
Do stay in touch, darlings.
Toodles!
