Matthew loves some Indie film…
As a relative newcomer to the human dynamo that is writer-producer-director-editor-cinematographer-actor Leanne Johnson, I need to know what goes into her pre-workout shaker bottle. I imagine the usual veggies, nutrient powders, juices, and dairy variations, but I suspect that some microparticle from Red Bull’s secret laboratory or the CERN atom-smasher is what she uses for added “kick.”
Johnson is something to behold, and what grabbed me early on in her latest indie outing, Extraction, USA, was a confident range of talent. Attempting to match Johnson’s energy would be a fool’s errand, but her cast mates do an admirable and infectious job of keeping up and standing out.
For clarity’s sake, I note that this film is penned (along with Peter Matsoukas), shot, edited, and directed by Mr. Mike Yonts, so Johnson pours her efforts primarily into leading the cast, while also serving as a producer. I have a friend that did 80% of the work on the self-financed pilot of a sitcom he made years ago, and the toll it took on him was the rough equivalent of hiking the Appalachian Trail with a grand piano strapped to his back. Nothing but respect for the indie scene, and the beautiful weirdos that keep its neon-green blood pumping through gaffer-taped veins.
We open on energetic single mom Marni Jackson (Johnson) and her death-metal-loving son Jason (Chase Strange) trudging through a morning far too many Americans can identify with right now: a spilling heap of overdue bills, unwelcome calls from collection agencies, a gas tank needle perched on the lip of Empty, and an escape from reality via cell phone apps… that just happen to involve the virtual slaughter of strangers. Whoops.
Marni deals with a slew of monetary morning challenges before clocking in at The Time-Out Lounge, a local watering hole with a handsy dirtbag boss, Daryl (Derek McMahan). He’s an endlessly sleazy antagonist, eventually becoming a nearly maniacal comic book villain, and McMahan digs into the role with an admirable gusto that begs for good-natured boos and hisses.
Visual touches I appreciated, right from the rip, were the establishing shots of Extraction’s town name on various buildings, including a drone shot of “Extraction” on a water tower. In later scenes, Marni rocks an Extraction High School top. Fantastic immersion, art direction folks. You will hear more from me later.
One particular afternoon, Marni and Jason cross paths with a group of activists at a local park. It’s becoming evident that the reason for the town’s namesake, the extraction of oil from the ground right under the citizens’ feet, is causing environmental miseries like random earthquakes, a foul smell in the air, and tap water that barely qualifies as drinkable.
Dubious at first, since the drilling companies keep her bar busy, Marni realizes that this may be a cause she can get behind, since the aforementioned handsy dirtbag pockets a sizable chunk of her pool hustle earnings –did I forget to mention she’d give Paul Newman a run for his money?—and the increase in business has not resulted in more pay or less harassment.
Things accelerate from here at a breakneck pace, and I came to enjoy the film’s devil-may-care, hellbent-for-leather, pick-your-kickass-idiom attitude. When Marni meets Steph (Marlee Carpenter), a cocksure drifter even better with a cue than our heroine, sparks fly, plans are hatched, and queer crime classics like the Wachowskis’ Bound and Gregg Araki’s The Living End sprang to mind.
A particular standout sequence, both giddily clever and logistically ambitious, occurs when Marni and Steph have one continuous rapid-fire conversation, yet the location, wardrobe, and lighting change completely in mid-sentence cuts. It’s a nice avant-garde touch that seemed to come out of nowhere, impressive for all the hours it must have taken to pull off so seamlessly.
It would be a crime of my own not to mention the scene where airsoft guns are ordered from an online retailer named for a massive South American river. That’s right, good old Amaz– sorry, it’s Orinoco here. More clever art department flair for this invented Rust Belt town reduced to poverty by the riches yanked from its guts.
There is a moral tension to Extraction, USA that anchors sometimes uneven character moments due to a rapidly shifting emotional tone. One moment Marni is a protective mother figure with a burning desire to see her son get involved in local activism, the next she’s ready to use those airsoft (and later authentic) firearms to finance an ambiguous dream of “heading out West.”
I would also be remiss not to mention the truly excellent Dannon Everett in the role of Joseph Lewis, leader of the grassroots resistance movement working to shed serious light on Extraction’s poisonous benefactors. His character arc is nebulous at first, then comes into sharp focus by the third act. There is real gravitas here; Mr. Everett has earned himself a new fan.
It’s worth mentioning that there’s a lot of music in this film, and it hops between genres like a jackrabbit in expensive headphones. Slick, pulsating electronic beats give the viewer plenty of notice that something loud, dangerous, illegal, or all three is about to pop off. Personally, I loved how Jason’s clock radio moshers acted as both humorous and romantic tonal shifts –this is my deliberate tease to help the filmmakers; you have to watch the movie to see what I’m referring to. Overall, Extraction, USA is an ambitious indie hybrid of styles, none of which ever stop running at full throttle.
For elements that could easily have been reduced to ham-fisted social commentary, like the same-sex romance between the two leads, only one slur crops up. Marni’s son seems to accept that his mom is in love with another woman quite naturally, and the desperation of working-class people pushed to acts of theft and violence feels all too plausible in 2024. Sure, the thrill of a successful pool hustle is exhilarating, but when you’re shaking down the marks to keep the bank from repossessing your house, every pot is filled with blood money.
Goat adds his two cents as well…
Extraction, USA is an Indie film directed and written by Mike Yonts and Cheri Harris as Executive Producer. It was also co-penned by Peter Matsoukas. The cast includes two of my favorites, Leanne Johnson and James Tackett. Also starring are Chase Strange as Jason, Derek McMahan as Daryl, Drew Russell as Duce, and the newcomer, Marlee Carpenter as Steph.
Marni (Leanne Johnson) and her son Jason live in the town of Extraction. The name is fitting, as the Oil Bidness is fracking away, a boon for the haves, and a headache for the have-nots, who are struggling to just survive. Marni is a single mom, who works in a dive bar as a full-time server, bottle washer and bookkeeper, and a part-time pool hustler. Not unlike in one of her other films, Chasing Rabbits, she is tormented by yet another shitty and creepy boss, Daryl.
Yes, life in Extraction sucks for Marni, who is struggling mightily with finances; Jason is being bullied at school, and the fracking vibration is knocking pictures off the wall of a house she cannot afford. Daryl is an abusive groper, but Marni is intrigued by the fact that he is always putting big bundles of money in the office safe. Just exactly what is going on here?
Well, Marni’s life changes in many ways when another pool-hustler gal drifts into town and into her life. They hit it off splendidly, and I mean hot, steamy tongue-swapping splendid. Steph is a wild-child and has big ideas of just how her newfound family can break away from Extraction and their financial troubles.
I have promised to avoid spoilers, but let me just say that Daryl’s suspicious safe full of cash, as well as the canned okra (you’ll have to just watch the movie) tempt the duo to embark on their careers as amateur criminals. And, like in the movie Snatch, the results of the first-time bumbling burglars encounter a lot of precarious problems. Well, if you first do not succeed, try, try and try again…Then Surprise! I know, I’ve perhaps said too much, but needless to say, things become even more of a fustercluck for the fledgling bandits.
For such a low budget movie, I was again pleasantly surprised by the superior acting, the flawless cinematography, and the storyline, with lots of twists and surprises. Leanne Johnson is destined to be a superstar actress and I salute the other actors and especially Mike Yonts, the filmmaker, for a job well done.
As with any movie, Extraction, USA has a few flaws, but absolutely none fatal, as it hits most of the boxes. Many movies require a suspension of disbelief, and this one is no different, but that in no way detracts from the excellence and enjoyability of this movie.
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