Skins (2002)

One of the best films i have seen

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Wow. If it's not too late, try to go into this one completely blind - no trailers, synopses or reviews. I have never been so drawn in by the hero's tragic flaw than in this movie, and that flaw is casually dropped all over the web. The moment of realization was gut-wrenching. Watched this as part of an Eric Schweig binge and so far it may be his finest performance from the four or five films I've seen. (Graham Greene sort of goes without saying.)

The film is very downbeat, with only occasional humor offering some relief from the plight of the reservation. At no time was I certain of the message trying to be delivered by "Skins". Vigalanteism seems like a poor solution, and really accomplished nothing. Graham Greene's performance as the stereotypical reservation drunk, is worth seeing, but the movie is choppy and not that entertaining. What you get is part message movie, part sibling drama, and no real reason to think any of the problems presented have been changed. The final act of vandalism, no matter how symbolic, really accomplishes nothing, and merely adds to the movie's mixed messages. - MERK

I think this is an exceptional film, with some fine acting. The acting for the most part is underplayed and complicated by some more subtle nuances than many of us are used to seeing. The characters do not woodenly represent good or evil; they often give many mixed messages, and intentions might be good but are provocative to others as well as the audience in the actions shown. Some of the characters are very clear, and quietly and sensitively played. These are not the typical "noble savages" who crowd some Hollywood portrayals; they represent real and suffering people who, each in his or her own way, struggle with inner demons and addictions, like the rest of us, and for the most part try to do the right thing. The characters portrayed who don't seem to care about doing the "right" thing, or care about the rights of others, seem like they are possessed by hopelessness in their destructive actions. They feel trapped in a bleak and seemingly hopeless environment; this is a third-world cultural inside of our very materialistic, greedy American society. The unusual sense of humor, and enduring familial love, and attention to Native American spiritual practices, that come through despite every obstacle, violence, and frustration are the keys here. This film has a different, but intense, cultural point of view that we might be unfamiliar with, but that makes it stark and compelling. The director's commentary and extra features on the DVD are worth listening to/watching as well.

******SPOILERS****** When he was ten years old Rudy Yellow Lodge, Eric Schweig, was stung by a deadly Trickster Spider that would have killed him if it wasn't for his older brother Mogie, Graham Greene. Who carried him to the hospital where the quick attention of the hospital staff saved Rudy's life. From then on young Rudy looked up to his brother Mogie and also felt that he owed him something to repay him for what he did. But as both brothers grew up Mogie, after coming back from the army in the Vietnam War, became a helpless alcoholic with nothing to look forward to but a government check to buy beer and wine. While Rudy became a policeman on the police department of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where both Rudy and Mogie lived. The Pine Ridge Reservation is a depressing place,in the Black hills on the South Dakota Nebraska border With unemployment among the American Indians there at a whopping 75% with alcoholism nine times higher and life expectancy some 15 years lower then anywhere else in America. This is where the story about the two brothers, Rudy and Mogie, takes place.Rudy trying to do what is beyond his authority as a lawman gives him takes the law into his own hands when a friend of his son, Cokie Red Tail, is murdered. Tracking down Cokie's killers one night, while they were drunk, Rudy breaks their kneecaps with a baseball bat as well as later puts them behind bars.One evening watching TV Rudy sees a news story about a liquor warehouse across the South Dakota border in Nebraska where the Indians of the Pine Ridge Reservation go to buy their booze which is illegal at the reservation. What makes Rudy burn up is when he sees on the TV a reporter interviewing his brother Mogie, who looked very drunk, who was telling him about how he goes there to stock up on his beer. That it was it for Rudy and it was then and there that he made up him mind to torch the place.Disguising himself Rudy goes down to the warehouse and sets it on fire but later as a policeman when he comes over to make out a report and investigate the arson he finds out that his brother Mogie was sleeping upstairs and was badly burned in the fire that he set. At the hospital Mogie was found out that besides being severely burned he was suffering from a severe liver disease due to the years of heavy drinking and didn't have very long to live.Rudy it tears secretly tells his brother that he was the one who set the fire that almost killed him. But Mogie, to Rudy's great relief, took it quite mildly telling Rudy if he wanted to do something to show his outrage at what was happening to his people, the American Indians, why not stick something up George Washington nose on Mount Rushmore.All his sounded pretty stupid to Rudy even though what he did as a vigilante was a lot worse. Later with Mogie looking a lot better Rudy went down to the local hardware store and bought his brother a T-shirt with famous American Indians instead of famous American Presidents on Mount Rushmore knowing that Mogie would get a kick out of it. But when Rudy came back to the hospital room where Mogie was staying he saw his Aunt Helen, Lois Red Elk, and Mogie's son Herbie, Noah Watts, in tears and sadly Rudy knew what happened. Rudy was depressed not only by Mogie's death and by the guilt that he felt by what he did to Mogie by setting the warehouse on fire where Mogie was sleeping in. But by not repaying is big brother for saving his life when they were little boys. Rudy saw that there was only one thing that he could do to square things with his brother and that was what Mogie suggested to him just before he died. So one cold and early morning Rudy with a one gallon can of bright red paint drove down to Mount Rushmore and paid Uncle George a visit.