The Mend

October 14, 2015 · Scruffy City Hall · Socialize at 7:00 p.m. · Screen at 8:00 p.m.

For anyone who’s ever loathed and loved a sibling in equal measure, The Mend is the wonderfully strange and acidic debut comedy from writer/director John Magary. Shot through with the wicked humor and anarchy of Bruce Robinson’s Withnail & I and Mike Leigh’s Naked, The Mend follows a mismatched yin-yang pair of NYC brothers, loose cannon Mat (Josh Lucas in a career-best performance) and put-upon Alan (Stephen Plunkett) as they stagger dimly towards some understanding of love, women, masculinity and what it truly means to be a brother. Featuring a gorgeous, minimalist score by Michi Wiancko & Judd Greenstein and beautiful, fluid cinematography by Chris Teague (Obvious Child), the film unfolds as three stylistically distinct but interwoven acts, each with its own mesmerizing rhythm. With superb supporting performances by Mickey Sumner (Frances Ha) and Lucy Owen as the brothers’ sharp-tongued girlfriends.

“The movie is never not profanely hilarious, but it’s also almost nerve-wrackingly tense throughout…not just a staggering debut feature, it’s a staggering movie full stop.” — Glenn Kenny, Some Came Running

“Blistering . . . a punch to the gut that’s brawny, sprawling, and appealingly overzealous.” — Calum Marsh, The Village Voice

About the Filmmaker

John Magary grew up in Dallas, Texas, and is a graduate of Williams College and Columbia University’s graduate film program. He has written and directed several short films, most notably the post-Katrina narrative The Second Line. His various grants include a Time Warner Storytelling Fellowship, an Annenberg Film Fellowship, a development grant from the Jerome Foundation, and a Grand Marnier Film Fellowship. His film criticism has appeared in Film Comment, Filmmaker, Hammer to Nail, and The Reeler, and his feature script Go Down, Antoinette went through the Sundance Directors and Screenwriters Labs. John was chosen as one of “25 New Faces of Independent Film” by Filmmaker Magazine.