Bass Ackwards

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Total Count: N/A

54%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 223

Bass Ackwards Photos

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Movie Info

Director and actor Linas Phillips takes his audience on a strange but fascinating cross-country journey in this independent comedy. Linas isn't sure what to do with himself when his girlfriend (who is already married) breaks up with him, his friend tells him he's no longer welcome to sleep on the sofa and he has no idea of where to turn. Stuck in Seattle, Linas wishes he could get out of town, and when he finds "Shorty," a battered 1976 Volkswagen bus that's been customized to significantly reduce its length, he buys the vehicle, hops in and starts heading East, with a vague notion to going to Brooklyn. Over the next ten days, Linas drifts from one side of the country to another, and as he encounters a variety of colorful strangers en route, he begins to embrace the possibilities that come with each turn of the road and begins to believe being on his own isn't as awful as expected. Combining scripted material with improvisation and interactions with random strangers, Bass Ackwards received its world premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Action & Adventure, Art House & International, Comedy, Drama
Directed By:

Linas Phillips
Written By:

Linas Phillips, Jim Fletcher, Davie-Blue, Paul Lazar, Sean Porter
In Theaters:

Feb 1, 2010 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Jun 29, 2010
Runtime:

93 minutes
Studio:

New Video

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Cast

Linas Phillips
as Linas

Davie-Blue
as Georgia

Jim Fletcher
as Jim

Alex Karpovsky
as Vlad

Paul Lazar
as Paul

Christian Palmer
as Christian

Sebastien Scandiuzzi

John Phillips

Raina Von Waldenburg

Mauro Von Waldenburg

Shana Fletcher

Bisharat Ali

Jack Bennett

Bill Green

Gary Wilmes

Gema Phillips

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Critic Reviews for Bass Ackwards

All Critics (4) | Fresh (4)

You can't help but love this guy and root for him - as a director and an actor, he does an impeccable job of blending reality with the script to make you think and to make you care.

Mar 8, 2019 | Full Review…

Amie Simon
Three Imaginary Girls
Balances humor and melancholia while tracing its moody, sensitive trip.

Jul 22, 2010 | Rating: 7/10 | Full Review…

Christopher Long
Movie Metropolis
Bass Ackwards proves the road trip film is alive, well and in very good hands

Jul 21, 2010 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Christian Toto
What Would Toto Watch?
...mild and quirky without the smugness that tends to infect these scruffy little films

Jul 3, 2010 | Rating: 86/100 | Full Review…

Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

View All Critic Reviews (4)

Audience Reviews for Bass Ackwards

Jan 06, 2011

After I watched the whole thing and thinking what just happened it was something else mixed into something else with some special ed class to go with it... I don't know why but I feel dumber... I wonder how many brain cells did I loose watching this. "Bass Ackwards." Linas, our hero, has basically gotten kicked out of Seattle. No one there who he thought he was tight with wants him around anymore. He ends up on an alpaca farm to make a few bucks and the owner is glad to give Linas his rattletrap VW microbus, a ridiculous vehicle in any man's motor pool. Linas hits the road. Linas' parents are glad to hear he's on the way home to where they live in Boston. But you can tell they are dubious over what he's up to. They definitely do not want him as a permanent boarder. Bottom line, Linas is leaving nowhere and headed nowhere. All that matters is what happens to him along the way. And interesting things happen. He picks up and befriends a guy with heavy marital baggage. He flirts with a girl he does not know is married and ends up in a punch-out. He runs out of gas and has to do a Christopher Walken imitation in Lithuanian to get the gas he needs (I kid you not). It's not much of a spoiler to say Linas lands in an intriguing place in NYC and we see the beginnings of his new life. In fact, the movie ends abruptly where you are really curious what come next. Nevermind. He'll be OK. A man coming off a disastrous affair with a married woman has a lyrical, strange and comedic cross-country journey in a modified VW bus. "Bass Ackwards" is a captivating and consummately human film that reminds us that whatever we think the road is about; the trip is probably about something else. Alternating between scripted action, i... read more mprovisation, and the unpredictable spontaneity of vérité encounters, the film is the semi-autobiographical story of Linas Phillips, who stars as well as directs. Born of the imagination of Linas and his easy collaboration with old friends, costars, and co-conspirators Davie-Blue, Jim Fletcher, Paul Lazar, and Sean Porter, the film effortlessly and organically crosses the line between reality and fiction, incorporating the people and characters that Linas meets on an unscripted and adventurous ride across America.

Sergio E Super Reviewer