Splinterheads (2009)

In Splinterheads, nerdy nice guy Justin (newcomer Thomas Middleditch) spends his mornings somewhere in upstate New York, practicing fake karate he’ll never use. Afterwards, he leaves the house that he shares with his mom (Lea Thompson) and grandfather – who just happens to be the world’s oldest living man – and mows lawns with his friend, Wayne (Jason Rogel).

Basically, Justin leads the kind of maladjusted life Napoleon Dynamite might have were he in his 20s. That is, until he is conned out of sixty bucks at a gas station by a beautiful stranger named Galaxy (Rachael Taylor, looking more like Lisa Welchel from The Facts of Life than she did in Transformers). When they meet again at the recently arrived traveling carnival, where she is running the dunk tank, Justin just knows that she’s his destiny.

The only problem? The jerk in the tank telling Justin that he throws like a girl is Galaxy’s boyfriend, and he’s an even bigger jerk on terra firma. It turns out that Galaxy and her mean-spirited boyfriend Reggie (Dean Winters) are among the titular “splinterheads,” a specific breed of carnival folk, whose job it is to charm, hustle and steal pennies from the pockets of midway strollers.

Still, things start to look up for the unlikely pair when Justin discovers Galaxy’s endearingly dorky geo-caching hobby (think of it as treasure hunting, aided by GPS and the Internet) and the two embark on a trip to find a “cache” that’s extra special to her. Cue the falling-in-love montage, complete with a long drive, a frolic through a field of wildflowers, and a turn on the tire-swing, and you’ve got a whirlwind romance, geek style.

Written and directed by Brant Sersen, Splinterheads’ love story is an awkwardly sweet, if predictable, one. But what the love story lacks in originality, Sersen more than makes up for in one-of-a-kind characters and the right actors to play them. Among the carnies are The Amazing Steve (Jason Mantzoukas, of the Upright Citizens Brigade), an accountant-turned-Criss-Angel-wannabe, and his assistant, Wyoming (Lennon Parham). These two are so strange and hilarious in their sparkly, low-budget costumes and set-ups, I almost expect to see a sequel based on them.

Meanwhile, the “big names” in the cast, Lea Thompson and Christopher McDonald not only hold their own, they add some much appreciated polish to the group of largely unknowns. McDonald, in particular, shines as the too-intense local sheriff trying to make Justin’s mom love him with behavior that stays just barely on the funny side of stalker.

Galaxy, while not as all-encompassing as her name might imply, has a level of depth that is often missing from the pretty foil in this kind of film. She’s tough, curious, plus a little nerdy, and Taylor does a believable job at showing all three.

That many characters are a lot to digest, and the editing could certainly have done with tighter reins. A final carnival showdown between Justin and Reggie seems especially interminable. Still, you root for scrawny, clumsy Justin to beat the douchebag and get the girl. And if the success of movies like Superbad and Napoleon Dynamite have shown us anything, it’s that everybody loves a loser.

If you enjoy Splinterheads, you might also be interested in the following:

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

(500) Days of Summer