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Civilians and critics alike, a lot of them, loved "Tusk" in Toronto, where it played the Midnight Madness sidebar of the international film festival earlier this month. And it's fun to have writer-director Kevin Smith, of "Clerks" and "Dogma," whose filmmaking star has fallen while his podcasting prowess has risen, once again at the center of a debate or two.
The chief argument regarding his "Human Centipede" riff is pretty basic: good trash or stupid trash? I'd say roughly half and half.
Smith treats it as "cringe humor," as the Long character's girlfriend (Genesis Rodriguez) characterizes the podcast, with enough real anguish (especially after Long has his grotesque makeover) to keep it fake-real. As the Canadian with the silliest Quebecois accent in existence, Depp manages an extremely tricky thing: keeping a deadpan expression while selectively crossing his eyes for oddball comic effect.
I didn't draw much enjoyment from "Tusk," though Depp's turn has its charms. In the end Smith seems to be writing a Post-it note to himself. If you run a podcast, be nice, the movie says, or you run the risk of elective surgery in which your amateur doctor is making the decisions.
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