Flakes

Zooey Deschanel has not exactly racked up a lot of hits in her career. Yes, she was in Yes Man, but she was also in Flakes, a 2007 film directed by Michael Lehmann, which earned a grand total of $778. Yes, $778. It deserved to make more.

Flakes is a film for and about slackers. The title refers to a New Orleans establishment that sells nothing but cereal, and the operators and customers are passionate about it. It's owned by a burnt-out hippie (Christopher Lloyd, basically playing the character he played from Taxi) and managed by a struggling musician, Aaron Stanford. The place sells the basics like Rice Krispies and Cheerios, but also has discontinued and hard-to-find children's cereals that collectors bid over in a frenzy on eBay.

Stanford's girlfriend is an artist who legally changed her name to Pussy Katz. She is intent on Stanford taking some time off so he can finish recording a CD. In this, making your own CD represents picking yourself up and doing something with your life. But when an MBA opens a rival cereal bar across the street, Deschanel, in order to get Stanford motivated, tries to drive Flakes out of business. Kind of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, no?

Flakes is a genially pleasant film--nothing incendiary (which Stanford wants his music to be). It bears a lot of weight in the kitsch area, as I can think of nothing more kitschy than people collecting cereals. A large percentage of Flakes' customers are stoners, and they have made up the bulk of the $778 worth of tickets on its release. It is pretty certain that after watching you will want a bowl of cereal. But what kind? Quisp? Count Chocula? If only a place like Flakes really existed.