If any of those names above are familiar to you, then you may already be aware of this independent film made right here in Murfreesboro and Nashville. Writer/director Joey Kneiser (also editor, cinematographer, score composer, colorist, et al.) may be better known as the front man of the band Glossary (for whom star Eric Giles plays drums)—one of Murfreesboro’s most successful and beloved bands of the past twenty-some years—but recently he’s put his talents into making Mr. Presto, a thoroughly enjoyable and unique feature film currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
Local musician and mid-century modern furniture refurbisher Shane Spresser plays Lowell Brown. Lowell claims to be a “hustler at the art of deception,” but in reality he is an ambitionless magician-for-rent who lives out of his van behind the Pizza Den (Sir Pizza on Main Street). With his signature bandanna, board shorts, and Air Jordans, Lowell drifts through life until the day he drifts right into the middle of a political assassination plot, mistaken identity and a couple of criminals disguised as nuns (Nashville’s Birdcloud). Lowell’s uptight brother Roy (Eric Giles), having just been kicked out of his house for losing his job as a guidance counselor, reluctantly takes to the road with Lowell, who was mistakenly given a fanny-pack of cash by the incumbent Willie Stevens (Jon Latham) with instructions to make the smarmy City Council candidate Skip Smotherman “disappear.” See, Mr. Presto shares a similar hairstyle and namesake with the Magic Man (Mike Moeller), an imposing assassin and rules-stickler who is the antithesis to Lowell’s slacker lifestyle. While this small-town plot of criminal buffoonery (lately one of my favorite sub-genres) drives the action, the heart of Mr. Presto is in the dialogue and character interactions.
Mr. Presto is flat-out funny. Spressers’ and Giles’ back-and-forths about penny loafers or nicknames are filled with quotable lines. Filmed on a budget of $4,000, and cast almost entirely with non-actors, the deadpan delivery of the dialogue and the naturalistic performances of all involved work exceptionally well. Some of the jokes might slip past you on the first viewing, but watch it again. The setups and payoffs show a true attention to detail and character, and illuminate a passion in these filmmakers that is often crushed by committee in larger budget pictures. Kneiser’s spartan cinematography really lets his script shine, but he still makes room for some weirder visual moments, such as Lowell’s opening magic show, or Councilman Willie Stevens’ nightmare of the greasy Skip Smotherman taunting him (Spencer Duncan as Smotherman gives a performance that is all at once hilarious, disturbing and menacing).
While there are plenty of influential touchstones such as Clerks’ independent spirit, The Dude’s will-abide attitude and John Waters’ filth fetishism, Mr. Presto is its own piece of movie magic. Keep up with the film on all the social medias to look out for a rumored future screening here in town.
