GENERAL INFO
  

 
Opening: 3.24.2000 NY, LA, SF
Director: Mark Hanlon
Principal Cast: Aidan Gillen, Emmanuelle Seigner, Susan Tyrrell, Mark Boone Junior, Harry Groener

MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 103 mins.
Distributor: Fine Line Features
(with Independent Pictures)

  

DICEA stylish thriller about Francis - a stuttering young man who lives in a dilapidated tenement building with his disabled and abusive stepmother, and commutes to a dead-end job at the local photoshop. Although he was raised a devout catholic, over time the cruelty of his life causes Francis to doubt his religious conviction and to turn inward, where he silently observes the world around him. One day he discovers he can see into a nearby apartment from a secret back stairs spot in his own building.

He gradually becomes obsessed with observing the intimate details of the beautiful, mysterious woman who lives there. One night, after saving her from a potential mugging, he accidentally meets her. Much to his bewilderment, she seems to take something of a romantic interest in him, and a passionate affair blossoms between the two. Francis, who is full of self-doubt and suspicion, cannot help but wonder why, and he continues to secretly watch her. What he sees reveals more than he could have ever imagined.

 

  • "A brooding and visually haunting first feature." -- A.G. Basoli, Moviemaker Magazine
  • "This intense, darkly-conceived study of voyeurism and alienation is a disquieting and beautifully realized work; it marks a most impressive first effort from director Mark Hanlon." -- Noah Cowan, Toronto Star


  • "A unique mix of smart chills, surreal drama, and black, black humor. Mark Hanlon's dark, wicked `Buddy Boy' takes risks, startles sensibilities, and toys with your mind." -- Dan Persons, Cinefantastique

  • "Part REPULSION, part REAR WINDOW and part BLUE VELVET, BUDDY BOY is a maniacally focused directing debut for Mark Hanlon that uses its limited budget brilliantly to create a claustrophobic, inescapable environment for its characters. Its Hitchcockian plot twists keep the viewer glued to the screen." -- Jeff Bond, Mothership.com
  • "From the beginning, `Buddy Boy' has something going for it: a strong visual sense that jumps off the screen. And the film becomes something else -- indeed something quite good, recalling Kieslowski's brilliant `Dekalog' in its mood, religious preoccupations and spare dialogue." -- Michael J. Agovino, Time Out New York

    • REVIEWS
  • Austin Chronicle
  • CinemaSense.Com

  • E! Online

  • iF Magazine
  • The New York Times
    [registration required]


  • Salon.Com


    "First-time director Hanlon's film is over-
    flowing with moody atmospherics, and Gillen's portrayal of the confused Francis is acting of the highest order."

    Preview Magazine

    		•

     "As we watch the descent of a character as potentially interesting as Francis and with a performance as striking as Aidan Gillen's, the yearning for more information about what makes him tick is overpowering."
                                         -- Laura Kern, IndieWire.Com

     "A beautifully acted, haunting enigma about the sub-reality of daily experiences, two things jump off of the screen in 'Buddy Boy,' Aidan Gillen's performance and Mark Hanlon's directorial talent."                                                                  -- Anna-Maria Petricelli, Cinema Sense

     "The overall feeling of the film combines the creepy intensities of David Lynch and Roman Polanski; in particular, there are distinct echoes of `Eraserhead' and `Repulsion.' And from one end of `Buddy Boy' to the other, Hanlon shows real promise."                                                                 
                 -- F.X. Feeney, L.A. Weekly

     "Not since Roman Polanski at the pinnacle of his European weirdness have I seen a film this strange and riveting.`Buddy Boy' is the work of a gifted new American director, Mark Hanlon, with a unique and courageous cinematic vision that produces nightmares. It's a thrill to discover a filmmaker with a talent as uniquely inspired and original."                                                                   -- Rex Reed, The New York Observer

         

     "From the performances to the visual composition, every frame of the film is directed with a kind of authority that first-time filmmakers always attempt but rarely attain." -- Bilge Ebiri, CitySearch New York

     'Buddy Boy' has all the elements of a great Hitchcock thriller. Coupled with a haunting score by Graeme Revell, this movie is stunning. The images are both haunting and alluring."
                                                   -- Brian Nixon, Austin Chronicle

         

     "A highly stylized and immensely watchable portrait of obsession [with a] visual style respectfully echoing the creepy ambience of a `Rosemary's Baby' or `Repulsion.'" -- Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter

     "This first feature by scriptwriter Mark Hanlon hits the right balance of menace, weirdness and humor in its study of a mind o n the edge of sanity. Susan Tyrrell is deliciously grotesque and the low camera angles and oppressive yellowy darkness look like they might have been shot by Samuel Beckett on acid."                                              
                -- Lee Marshall, Screen International