Salvage (2004)

 

Just to change it up, here’s a short that wasn’t made for television.  PC really has been in a lot of shorts.  Short film is quite an interesting medium (and a definite challenge, putting a complete story into such a small package!), and it’s always nice to see well-respected actors shining a bit more light on it.  Let that be a lesson to all aspiring filmmakers – don’t discount the value of shorts, because you might get someone of PC’s caliber to be in them!

 

Much shorter than the more recent outings, Salvage clocks in at just under ten minutes.  It is a fairly straightforward story told about an off-the-beaten-path topic:  a man has just begun seeking help for his sex addiction.  I’m not exactly sure where he’s ended up – it doesn’t seem like a clinic or a treatment facility – but he’s been offered the promise of a mysterious yet immediate cure, if he chooses to accept it.

 

PC is our leading man here, addict James Mulwray.  He’s a little desperate, a little defensive, and a little ashamed; very fitting for his story.  Though he’s finally accepted that he has a problem and needs help, you can tell he hates thinking of himself that way.

 

And I like that the film really depicts him as having a problem and acknowledging it as such.  Sex addiction doesn’t get a huge amount of attention in mainstream media, and I think it’s easy to brush off references to it as, “Oh, they’re just sleazy,” or, “Yeah, sounds like a real ‘problem’” (especially if the addict in question is a man.)  Salvage shows that sex is genuinely interfering with James’s life, and he truly hates the hold that it has over him.  In a way, it’s actually emasculating for him that he can’t control himself.

 

Another thing I appreciate is the way the sexual content is filmed.  The sexual scenes here sort of remind me of the violent scenes in Psycho.  They’re shot and edited in such a way that it seems like you’re seeing more than you really are.  It’s not done to the extent that it is with Psycho, but the effect is similar.

 

Accent Watch

 

RP – pretty good.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Maybe.  An intriguing story well-filmed.

 

PC-wise – Possibly.  It won’t be making any lists of my favorite PC performances, but he does a fine job.  There’s so much discomfort to James, and that definitely comes through to the viewer.

 

Warnings

 

Sexual content (including snatches of multiple sex scenes) and brief strong language.