Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (2020)

By: Mike Ward on Monday, July 27

NR Running Time: 98 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • Blurring the lines of documentary and fictionalized storytelling, Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets peels the curtain back on dive bar culture.

  • Bill and Turner Ross’ film is not for everyone; however as a study in how vital socialization and assimilation is to human beings, the film is fascinating.

  • Replicates a cinema vérité look and feel, as the camera embeds within a bar capturing conversations and interactions as the hours wind down to the bar’s final closing.

NO

  • A fly-on-the-wall documentary-style film about strangers boozing away all day and night may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

  • To those who see this film as insightful and illuminating, others may see it as hopeless and depressing.

  • Documentary purists may balk. And the film may be triggering for certain viewers.


OUR REVIEW

If the definition of a documentary is, per Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, “a presentation (such as a film or novel) expressing or dealing with factual events…,” then the experimental, blurred lines reality of Bloody Noses, Empty Pockets would like to unpack that definition for a moment.

To the uninitiated, or even to a regular documentary film fan, the latest film from Bill and Turner Ross (Contemporary Color) looks authentic enough. Set in the final hours of a Vegas bar, “Roaring 20s,” cameras embed within the walls of the watering hole’s final day, capturing the patrons who wander in and settle in as one would in the comfort of their own home.

For nearly 100 minutes, the Ross Brothers’ film resembles the work of Frederick Wiseman, giving us a cinéma vérité glimpse at the conversations, interactions, and emotions swirling around another shot of whiskey, another pull from the tap, a long drag of a cigarette, or the chatty, rummy hugs, flirtations, and philosophical debates as morning turns to night and time lacks any real construct.

A character describes “Roaring 20s” as “…a place where you can go when nobody else don’t want your ass…” And while that may seem a rather scruffy take on a drinking establishment, oddly it fits here. In the world the Ross Brothers have built for us, the lonely souls who cling to this place, as a sanctuary of sorts from the challenges looming outside of it, cheer in unison when the statement is made.

It should be mentioned that Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets is not quite a documentary, and not quite a work of fiction either. The film pushes the boundaries of the medium, perhaps no differently than the incessant reality television shows we consume on the daily. While not scripted per se (note the film has no writing credit), the Ross Brothers freely admit to ginning up circumstances, dressing up the bar, “casting” their film, and implementing controls to generate reactions.

The constant is Michael Martin (who has an extensive IMDb page), 58 years old, a former actor, who we first find asleep at the bar. Once awake, he shaves in the bathroom, lays claim to the bar’s couch as his own, and half-heartedly apologizes for crashing there. With nowhere else to go, he essentially lives 24-7 at “Roaring 20s.”

Michael is, in many ways, the centerpiece of the film, but Marc Paradis, the jovial bartender, who departs the film after 30 or so minutes, is a shining spot of everyone’s day. Caring and kind, he offers a song or two and gratitude to everyone in attendance as he wraps up his final shift.

Single mother, Shay Walker, takes the afternoon and evening, and holds court for the remainder of the film, not so much managing the bar as she is keeping things contained the best she can. Observers may note that no strangers visit “Roaring 20s”; all the customers we meet are known, recognized…“regulars.” While certainly an example of subtle manipulation by the Ross Brothers to tell their story, it helps center the film as well as our focus.

For the most part, the manipulated elements of the film will drift by unrecognizably, though one subplot involving Shay’s teenage son (Tra Walker) and his friends returning to the bar again and again is a bit unnecessary. When focused on the relationships, the trust and the emotions freely shared and brought to life, when inhibitions are down, the Ross Brothers deliver a captivating and insightful look at a very real component of American life and culture.

The patience one will have with this, as with any cinéma vérité-style film, will vary. No apologies are given for the behaviors on display, no judgments are ever rendered on this community.

And while easy to cast a side-eye to people who drink alcohol like water and smoke cigarettes like its an essential part of every person’s balanced diet, what the Ross Brothers remind us is that, as human beings, we all have a need to matter. To someone. Somewhere.

Inside the walls of “Roaring 20s,” everyone matters. They have a voice. People hear them. They are accepted. They have a safe place to be.

CAST & CREW

Documentary Featuring: Michael Martin, Shay Walker, Marc Paradis, Cheryl Fink, John Nerichow, Bruce Hadnot, Tra Walker, Rikki Reed, Pam Harper, Felix Cardona, Kamari Stevens.

Director: Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross
Release Date: July 10, 2020
Utopia