Walter Gary Benjamin works as a ticket-taker slash ticket-tearer at the local Cineplex, who believes he is the son of God. When he was ten years old he made a deal with God to judge the eternal fate of everyone he comes in contact with in exchange for his father going to Heaven. Walter manages his daily routine and his worrisome mother until the mysterious Greg shows up and forces him to confront the meaning of his life, and his future.
The narrative is effectively constructed and the cinematography is crisp. Even so, in touching lightly on themes without committing to any of them, the movie falls flat.
Walter isn't quite like anything you've seen before. Shot partly in Indianapolis on a shoestring budget, this quirky comedy is one of the best films out right now.
It's uneven work, but not without elements that come together quite well, including a game supporting cast skilled at bringing personality to picture, while lead Andrew J. West commits in full.
What's not to love, after all, about a therapist who calls a mentally unbalanced man crazy to his face? But it's also an appropriate response to both Walter the movie and Walter the ridiculous construct of a movie character.
The slow compromise of this perfect world, and Walter's increasingly messy interactions with other human beings (Madsen and William H. Macy are especially good), provide both laughs and heart.
