When I went to see “Hang Loose” (made by a local boy) at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, I was there to support filmmakers from Honolulu. I had an instant liking for this film because it was shot
When I went to see “Hang Loose” (made by a local boy) at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, I was there to support filmmakers from Honolulu. I had an instant liking for this film because it was shot on O‘ahu in 15 days and had a mostly local cast and starred YouTube sensation Kevin Wu and Dante Basco (“Paradise Broken”). The irony was they played characters named Kevin and Dante. This is an example of some nice movie magic at work I never noticed until I was writing this article and I asked the director to give me character names. I was “lost” in the comedy magic.
Aside from director Ryan Kawamoto’s extremely kind nature, he and Kinetic Films bring talent to the table. “Hang Loose” was a film that could have jumped on the cliché train or cheated its audience. The other thing about this film that astounds me as a filmmaker is the fact it’s created for a YouTube audience. Many movies have a standard rule they must capture your attention in the first 10 minutes. For YouTube, filmmakers have one minute. This challenge was something Kawamoto and his team took in stride.
“We weren’t scared, and we willing to play lots with the opening act,” he said.
The tagline from the film’s poster is “Some days you just gotta Hang Loose. But today was a bad choice.” The plot is simple, but brings big (intelligent) laughs. Kevin (Wu) must go to Hawai‘i to attend the wedding of his big sister. The day before the wedding he goes on a misadventure with this future brother-in-law (Basco) and his crazy groomsmen that change his life. One would be quick to thing it’s like the “Hangover” but it’s not. It’s original, it’s local faces in fresh roles. It’s not Seth Rogen playing the same fool (until he showed real talent in “50/50”) or Jonah Hill being the idiot friend (until “Moneyball”).
I admire that Kawamoto’s film was refreshingly fun. He doesn’t cheat us as he delivers a comedy with themes, subtext and one of life’s most important lessons, which is … Sorry! You know me, I can’t give you everything!
To Kawamoto’s advantage they were able to have about eight to 10 test screenings in Honolulu and Los Angeles. I saw the final product at the Director’s Guild of America. To filmmakers, this is like a painter standing in the Louvre. I’m not exaggerating, the DGA is sacred ground for film directors and movie lovers. It was a thrill to see local films on historical grounds.
The movie did “have some comedy rules to follow and required a happy ending” according to Kawamoto. The film’s script was key, they developed it for two months and figured out the best comedic timing through four months of editing. What I loved most was, to some degree, the movie had predictability — what movie doesn’t? — but felt new.
“I’m known for dark work, so making a comedy was a nice change,” Kawamoto explained to me. This film was something that helped him find his comedic voice.
As I mentioned last week, Kinetic Films of Honolulu (with an Los Angeles branch of offices) has a mission to bring local-stories (light and dark) to the world. To support “Hang Loose” and learn more about the mission of Kinetic Films, visit its website at www.kineticfilms.com.
