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That it's as funny (and, ultimately, as moving) as it is quizzical speaks to the confidence and wit of Fenster's direction. Acting as his own cinematographer, he captures the crushing weight of desert skies and clammy hotel rooms, all without suggesting the filmmakers who've worked this territory before. His (primarily nonprofessional) cast deliver deft, intelligent performances: David Nordstrom's deadpan reaction shots as the Man are worth the price of admission alone, as is Libby Hux's Robotussin-impaired bathroom floor proposition.

As tempting as it might be to play spot the influence - I see Two Lane Blacktop and James Benning, Kings of the Road and Samuel Beckett, with a smidgen of Stan Laurel in Nordstrom's performance - it fails to get at what's most original about the film. At its best, Trona operates at that point where genres impinge on one another: an existential comedy, a static road movie, a claustrophobic picaresque, it is, more than anything else, doggedly, hilariously strange.

- Gary Mairs
Gary Mairs teaches film at Cal Arts. He is contributing editor to THE HIGH HAT, an online arts magazine, where he writes about music and film. He also contributes to CULTUREVULTURE.NET.

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