Ned Rifle
Director: Hal Hartley
Year Released: 2014
Rating: 2.0
Final part of Hartley's trilogy involving poet Simon Grim (James Urbaniak), Henry Fool (Thomas Jay Ryan) and Fay Grim (Parker Posey) has the offspring of Henry and Fay, Ned (Liam Aiken), out to look for his estranged Pop (and shoot him); tagging along is a hot mess (Aubrey Plaza) who has her own agenda. Though intriguing for those who saw the first two films - Simon's given up poetry to become a stand-up comic on the Internet, Henry's locked away, Fay is in prison for being a terrorist but wants to publish her autobiography - it, for the most part, coasts around on Hartley's eccentric dialogue and appropriation of Greek Tragedy (Dad does die, but not by Ned's hands), and ends with (not unexpected) apathy. As others have noted, Plaza's deadpan demeanor is simply perfect for a Hartley project: I hope he keeps her number in his Favorites list.
