Live Free or Die

Zooey Deschanel week ends with Live Free or Die, a 2006 indie comedy from former Seinfeld writers Greg Kavet and Andy Robin. It is not as funny as the worst episode of Seinfeld, but it isn't aggressively bad. I just am kind of tired of movies about stupid criminals.

Set in New Hampshire, hence the title (the state motto), the film is about a hapless small-time crook called Rugged (Aaron Stanford). He fancies himself a kingpin of crime, and gallivants around town in a dilapidated van, stealing UPC codes for rebate checks and pilfering charity donations. He is a coward but full of braggadocio.

He runs into an old friend (Paul Schneider), who is a halfwit but owns a share of a storage facility that his sister (Deschanel) runs. Stanford wants a job as a security guard there, but somehow he ends up trying to get revenge on a bully by pouring brake fluid into his well. The man ends up dying of a different cause, but Stanford thinks he has murdered him and tries to cover up the crime.

Stanford puts a lot of work into his character, but ultimately he's just too stupid and annoying to care about. I see one critic that compared him to Steve Buscemi; perhaps he was thinking of Buscemi's brilliant performance in Fargo. The difference is that Buscemi was not the main character of Fargo, and was instead just one of many layers of eccentricity. The performance to marvel at is Schneider's, who uses the subtlest hints to create a vividly moronic but well-meaning man. I was riveted to him every time he was on screen.

In addition to Deschanel, some other recognizable performers in small roles are Michael Rapaport, as a jealous police officer, and Judah Friedlander (Frank from 30 Rock) in a particularly foul-mouthed role as a hardware store owner and pornography collector.