Me: Do you like quirky independent comedies starring Steve Buscemi?

Also Me (AM): Who doesn’t?!? I see you’ve taken up talking to yourself now? Quarantine getting to you or what?

Me: Well, it’s either talk to myself or get annoyed at our husband for putting the dishes in the dishwasher wrong – I figured this was the better way to go. Anyway, let’s talk about Steve Buscemi in In The Soup!

AM: Who’s in a soup?

Me: Steve Buscemi!’

AM: Huh? Steve Buscemi is in a soup? I don’t get it. That sounds weird.

Me: Huh? No! Steve Buscemi is not in a soup, he’s in THE Soup.

AM: I’m not following you.

Me: He’s in a movie called In The Soup.

AM: Oh! Ok I get it! Very good – you know that’s an old bit, right?

Me: Sure do. Anyway, let’s just start from the beginning. In the Soup is a 1992 film directed by Alexandre Rockwell. It stars Steve Buscemi as Adolfo Rollo, Seymour Cassel as Joe, and Jennifer Beals as Angelica. Adolfo is a struggling filmmaker.

AM: How struggling?

Me: Very struggling. For example, he makes a really gross looking egg mix thing at the beginning because he doesn’t have any money. You feel sorry for him right off the bat. He also can’t pay his rent and as a result is threatened by his scary landlord. Then, out of desperation, he puts an ad in the paper to sell his epic manuscript. The manuscript gets the attention of a criminal named Joe who then takes a liking to Adolfo and promises to make his film!\. But as Adolfo becomes mired in the criminal life (thanks to Joe), he soon realizes that he’s gotten way more than he bargained for.

AM: Very interesting! And funny?

Me: Yes, lots of funny things happen! Oh! And he’s in love with his neighbour, who is this mysterious woman with a strange life. She couldn’t really care less about him though.

AM: Poor guy! It sounds a bit dark and quite funny. Especially if there’s criminal shenanigans! You know how we love criminal shenanigans!! This is our kind of movie.

Me: It really is! It’s a black and white, low budget movie but what it lacks in polish it makes up for in feel. The gritty, lackluster scenery takes you into Adolfo’s dreary world. You feel his desperation and his need to express himself through this crazy film that he’s written. His film, a love story more than anything else, is completely ridiculous, long and unwatchable. However, his sense of superiority, coupled with a cringy awkwardness, won’t allow him to see that his script is total crap which is the real tragedy.

AM: So, does he get to make his film or what?

Me: I guess you’ll just have to see it.

AM: If I’m you then wouldn’t I have seen it already?

Me: That would make sense wouldn’t it?

AM: It would. Ok well, suppose I don’t remember it very well and want to watch it again. Where would I do that? Netflix?

Me: What? No! It’s on Kanopy, the free streaming app that you can access with your WPL card. You can watch up to 7 titles a month for free plus unlimited children’s programs.

AM: Hey! That’s amazing! Let’s go check out more titles on Kanopy right now!

— Shaye R.