Joey Magidson
The Sundance Film Festival is always a place to find an acting showcase. It’s also not super uncommon to find that the lead is also one of the creative forces, either writing, directing, or both. With Ponyboi, we have River Gallo‘s acting and writing on display. One of stronger than the other, but there’s certainly a bold new voice here. It’s just a shame that the movie on the whole can’t match up to the central performance.
Ponyboi mixes a unique period character study with a very generic crime drama. Sundance loves a small-scale criminal tale, and this is no exception, but it just doesn’t offer up anything (outside of our lead) that we haven’t seen done before, and better. It’s never bad, but it putters along when there should be more forward momentum.
Set during one intense Valentine’s Day in 2001 New Jersey, we meet young intersex sex worker Ponyboi (Gallo) while they’re on the job. They work for Vinny (Dylan O’Brien) a small time drug dealer and pimp out of a 24 hour laundromat. Despite a close friendship with his pregnant girlfriend Angel (Victoria Pedretti), Ponyboi is having an affair with Vinny. This life on the brink is about to take a major turn, when a sudden death, as well as a drug deal gone awry, put our protagonist on the run.
With only really the mysterious Bruce (Murray Bartlett) as a friend, Ponyboi must try to survive, while Vinny pursues them. That’s more or less the plot, too, even though there are flashbacks to Ponyboi’s unhappy childhood, as well as several would-be subplots that don’t end up going anywhere. What should be an intimate character study becomes a crime drama that threatens to become a thriller.
River Gallo fares best in this cast, being the only one to overcome the cliches of the genre, turning in strong work in the process. Gallo has the tough New Jersey vibe down, though the cracks in the armor lead to some very tender moments. Dylan O’Brien is certainly having a good time here, though he goes far too broad with what ends up being a villain by the end. Murray Bartlett is fine, but it’s just a cameo. Supporting players, besides Victoria Pedretti, include Indya Moore, Stephen Moscatello, Keith William Richards, and more.
Director Esteban Arango gives Gallo’s script a dark look, while never finding a smooth pace for the drawn out yet thin story. Gallo is hard on their own character, while more or less ignoring real development on everyone else. Arango leans too much into genre, when the character moments are what works best. There are individual moments and scenes in Ponyboi that are very good, but the overall vibe is that of a missed opportunity.
Ponyboi is notable almost exclusively for River Gallo’s performance. They’re very good, just surrounded by a project that doesn’t give them enough to do. Whether Gallo writes their next showcase or just stars, one hopes that there’s more on its bones. Gallo has got the goods, so the film next time just needs to show it as well. This Sundance feature sadly isn’t quite it.
SCORE: ★★1/2
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