Kabluey

KABLUEY

directed by Scott Prendergast

The tagline for this movie is "Every family has a black sheep. This one is blue." Written and directed by Scott Prendergast (and starring Prendergrast), Kabluey is the story of an awkward, jobless and somewhat socially retarded man named Salman ("Not Salmon, Salman. Like Salman Rushdie!") who moves in with his struggling sister-in-law, Leslie. Leslie is portrayed by Friends alum Lisa Kudrow, and anything related to Friends becomes an instant strike in my book. So basically any movie that employs Kudrow (or Matthew Perry, Jen Aniston, or any of those other sots) has an uphill climb for me. Fortunately, Kabluey sprinted up that hill and stood at the top triumphant, because the movie won me over instantly with its quirk and charm. So Salman moves in with Leslie to help her take care of her two hellion kids while the Man of the House, Salman's brother, is oversees in Iraq, a victim of the government's stop-loss program. Leslie HATES being a Wartime Bride, and 18 months without the father of her children is driving her NUTS. Enter Salman, who has not seen his brother or his family "since the wedding." And when that topic comes up, everyone gets silent and uncomfortable. Salman did something embarrassing at that wedding, and hasn't spoken to these people since.

And Leslie also hates Salman, probably because of what happened at the wedding. She treats him like shit and takes advantage of him 110%, and Salman struggles to adapt to his new role of Au Pair to the very young children. Eventually Leslie suggests that Salman get out of the house because the arrangement is not working out as smoothly as she would like. However, Salman is a broke mofo, and literally can't even afford a bus ticket to get out of town. So Leslie is stuck with Salman until he makes some dough and gets out of dodge. To make this happen, Leslie hooks up Salman with a job at her dying internet company, and it turns out that job is Company Mascot. Hence Big Blue is introduced into the picture.

A good majority of the movie consists of Salman in the Big Blue suit standing on the side of a country road, hoping to hand out flyers to passing motorists. And with these passing motorists he meets some interesting people. One lady is IMMENSELY afraid of the Big Blue creature, and she refuses to drive her car past him unless he walks ten feet back from the road and hunkers down. She passes by several times a day and always honks her horn and freaks out. But later on, when Salman is at the store in his normal clothes, he sees the same lady, and this time she actually asks him for help, getting Salman to reach some items on the top shelf for her. When he passes her the items and examines her, he sees that she is quite pleasant and perhaps not completely crazy. She just reacts differently to the outer appearance of the suit. Salman also gets hired to work a children's birthday party, cause they are fascinated by the big blue lug. Through the suit, Salman can become a different person, someone who people actually react to and who some oddly respect in some ways. And he manages to use his powers for good.

WATCHMEN note: The role of asshole, philandering boss is played by Javier Bardem-look-a-like Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who happens to be appearing next year as Eddie Blake aka The Comedian. He didn't shoot any Vietnaneme whores in this one, nor did he kill JFK, but he is a bit of a self centered jerk. Anyway, in Kabluey, he's pretty awesome.