The popularity of a film should never be considered as a yardstick of its quality. There are ridiculously popular films that are not really good when you think of it, and there are also fantastically well-made films that are virtually unknown. There is something exciting about watching a film you had never heard of, only to find out it is a remarkable feature that is unrecognized perhaps due to a lack of budget for a proper marketing campaign or a badly timed release. Luckily for some films, word of mouth leads them to, eventually, getting the recognition they deserve. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of features that slip through the radar every year and John Pollono’s Small Engine Repair has all the ingredients to be one of those.

Based on Pollono’s own play, the film follows a group of old friends, Frank, Swaino and Packie -played respectively by Pollono, Jon Bernthal (also a producer) and Shea Whigham-, who reunite in Frank’s workshop to make amends after having spent some time apart. However, things are not what they initially seem as Frank has hidden intentions that might challenge their friendship and change their lives forever.

While the theatrical origins of the film might be evident -there is a limited number of locations and aside from the central trio there are barely a handful of characters-, Pollono never shies away from them, thus giving the film a straightforward look that helps potentiate the more realistic side of the story. However, behind the film’s apparently simple look and premise, Pollono’s script delves into the much complicated territory of toxic masculinity. Our central trio -accompanied by TV boxing matches, steaks, beers and whiskey- joke around, tease each other, tell sexual anecdotes, brag about their brand new phones, fight and manspread. Their jokes are borderline offensive and some of their comments are those that could only be said by and/or to friends -who might get over them a minute later by saying something worse-. It is obvious that what we are seeing is not exemplary behaviour, as these three men, who have been friends for life, are out of touch with modern times and societal changes. The arrival of Chad, a Ralph Lauren wearing, well-off Zoomer whose vision of life and experiences could not be more dissimilar to those of Frank, Packie and Swaino, only emphasises the issue that the three of them belong to an era that has been over for years -despite the fact that (without getting into spoilers) Chad is an entitled jock, who is not exactly a role model and poster boy for his generation-. Furthermore, the fact that there are only two important female characters -played by Jordana Spiro and Ciara Bravo- reinforces the toxicality and prevalence of masculinity, but, on a deeper level, one can see that women in the film are representing both the tougher, more characterful past and the more hopeful yet vulnerable future.

In the process of capturing the contrast between men out of their depth clashing with the new generations, the film offers a critical view of the lower classes in America, in which women seem to be relegated to the margins while men get drunk, play around the fire, eat meat and measure their success with things like a powerful motorbike, big phone or a brand new flatscreen TV. In this reality, the changes brought by the new generations are also exemplified by the presence of social networks, which are not seen as something that can bring any kind of improvement, but instead used as a mere tool to, either increase one’s popularity -and chances of hooking up with another person-, or as a weapon with extremely damaging effects.

For the film to stick the landing and be belieavable as well as engaging to see, everything relied on the shoulders of Bernthal, Pollono -both of them reprising their roles from the original play- and Whigham, and thankfully their performances allow them to achieve a palpable chemistry that makes it plausible to think they have been friends for life. It is their work here that elevates the film and lets them magnificently handle the changes in tone on the story, which by the third act has taken a turn that is both unpredictable and gripping. However, not everything that can be said is positive as it is easy to have the sense that there are unnecessary scenes whose only purpose seems to be that of linking Small Engine Repair with something that could resemble a Tarantino film -think of a lite version of Reservoir Dogs mixed with the magnificent Big Bad Wolves and you will get the idea- and do not add much to the general story, dragging the film to an ending that feels conventional and bland.

All in all, Small Engine Repair is a black comedy that flies comfortably under the radar, knowing it might not be everybody’s cup of tea. But, making the most of its theatrical origins, it explores the dangers of masculinity and of generational changes in a film that does not turn a blind eye to some of the issues that plague modern America. The problem is that it points at those issues perhaps too bluntly and in a non polished and simplistic way, like some opinionated friends from childhood, the ones who have not evolved much and keep laughing mercilessly at you, but also the ones who -occasionally- might be right and you cannot help but have by your side.