Worth: $14.00
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Cast:
Clayne Crawford, Jordana Brewster, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Carl Kennedy
Intro:
Machoian’s moral play is effective but potentially alienating.
In 2020, writer/director Robert Machoian made an outstanding contribution to American indie cinema with The Killing of Two Lovers – an emotionally fraught and resonant portrayal of a man attempting to avoid the breakdown of his marriage, family and himself. Machoian and leading man, Clayne Crawford continually subverted audience expectations and delivered a film brimming with rawness and honesty about what it means to be a man.
Once again, Machoian teams up with Crawford to dissect performative masculinity in the slow-burn thriller The Integrity of Joseph Chambers. Crawford plays the titular Joe, a big city insurance salesman who has moved to a wooded rural area with his wife Tess (Jordana Brewster) and two sons. Over the course of one day that contains a tragedy, Joe will be tested not only in terms of his moral integrity but also in terms of what is integral to him.
The film starts with Joe talking to himself as he stands in front of a mirror shaving. He’s getting ready for a hunting trip despite Tess’s protestations. Joe has removed his beard, leaving a prominent moustache which he thinks completes his “hunter look.” He poses in front of Tess in his neatly pressed hunting attire and awaits her admiration.
Tess disapproves of Joe going hunting because he is deeply inexperienced. Joe argues that everyone in the town hunts, from Tess’s father to the family dog. Tess reminds him that he’s not from the town and they only located there for the children to have a stable environment to grow up in, not to become survivalists or preppers. They aren’t some kind of “End of the world Fox News people.” At the very least, she wants Joe to wait until Doug (Carl Kennedy) can take him out and train him more thoroughly. Joe’s impatience means that he refuses to wait (a personality trait which will not serve him well later in the film). He’s just going to hunt deer he insists, something a twelve-year-old can do. He needs to know he can hunt to feed his family if it comes down to it.
Joe drives to Carl’s house to borrow a gun as Tess will not allow him to own one yet. Carl is also sceptical about Joe’s solo outing, but nonetheless allows him to take his gun and truck and head off to a friend’s estate for the day. There is a brief exchange about how Joe’s car isn’t manly enough for Carl and Machoian shows that Joe can barely handle Carl’s truck. A pall is cast over Joe’s day before he reaches the hunting ground, and the audience becomes prepared for something to go wrong, although they are likely unprepared for what does.
Nowhere is it more evident that Joe should not be out hunting as it is when we see him in the Autumnal forest. He has trouble loading the rifle, he mishandles it to the point that the possibility he may accidentally blow his own head off becomes a stress point for the audience. He tramps through the forest with impatience and a lot of noise. There’s no way that Joe is going to be able to sit all day in a fixed spot and wait for a deer to cross his path.
When he finally sights a deer, he does everything wrong. Instead of quietly settling and waiting for his prey, he gives chase. A snap of a branch occurs, and he shoots but his bullet does not go where he intended and his day of playing hunter is turned into something horrifying.
Machoian and his regular cinematographer Oscar Ignacio Jiménez favour wide shots, with the camera mostly static. Our inroad to Joe’s psychological state is the striking sound design and score by Peter Albrechtsen. As Joe realises the extent of his actions, the sound becomes oppressive, as he hears multiple whispers and voices. The music ratchets up the tension even when it appears little is happening.
Clayne Crawford carries almost the entire film on his talented shoulders. A long unedited shot shows him run through a gamut of reactions. There are moments where it appears that Machoian is filming an outdoor play that relies on Crawford’s every movement to convey meaning. When the camera does settle on his face, the sheer distress Crawford exhibits is substantial. Joe is a man who realises that his cosplay of hunter-gatherer is an uncomfortable fit and one that he cannot wear as he literally and metaphorically strips himself of it.
Joe needs to find a justification for his actions as well as a solution that will best serve himself and his family. He runs through a scenario in his mind where he simply returns home to his family and resumes his life. That may be the least harmful solution to his dilemma but is it the right one? Just what integrity does Joseph Chambers possess?
Machoian’s moral play is effective but potentially alienating. There are clear pacing issues with the film. Although Jordana Brewster and Jeffrey Dean Morgan appear, they have less than ten minutes screen time apiece. Crawford is a compelling screen presence but it’s questionable if the focus on him is enough to keep the audience engaged. Machoian’s minimalism which worked impeccably in The Killing of Two Lovers impairs the impact that the film requires.
Although imperfect in many aspects, The Integrity of Joseph Chambers reiterates Machoian and Crawford’s talents and invites anticipation for any future films that the two will release either in partnership or individually.
