Glitter & Doom is a musical romance between two young artists, one a sparkly circus performer (Alex Diaz as Glitter) and the other a melancholy singer/songwriter (Alan Cammish as Doom) who can’t get anyone to listen to his mournful music. Their story spools out against a background of music from the Indigo Girls’ decades-long catalog—and the Indigo Girls themselves make appearances in the film.
Director Tom Gustafson creates this sugary jukebox musical with writer Cory Krueckeberg; the pair have made eight films together, including Were the World Mine and Hello Again. The question they pose in Glitter & Doom is whether the spark that lights between the two men in a love-at-first-sight moment can outlast family and career turmoil.
Glitter, whose life revolves around juggling and circus acrobatics, is about to leave for five months at L’Ecole de Cirque in Paris. Doom is trying to get a gig at a local gay club but the manager wants him to play songs that are “lighter.” Finally, the manager offers Doom a spot, if he can get some of his music recorded before that night.
Glitter and Doom (they have no other names in the film) begin an idyllic summer romance with frequent camping trips to the quiet wooded areas outside their city. (The film was produced in Mexico City but the story’s locale is never mentioned or visualized. The viewer has no idea where the story is taking place.)
Complicating the lives of both men are their troublesome mamas (fathers are not in the picture). Glitter’s rich and powerful mama Ivy (Ming-Na Wen, wearing a glittery eye-patch and fabulous prints throughout) wants to keep her “birdie” close to home, but Glitter wants to roam. Doom’s mother Robin (Missi Pyle) sets different problems for her son. We meet her when Doom picks her up as she’s released from prison; their first stop is at a highway shop where she buys—and guzzles—a pint of something. Robin is also a musician intent on resuming her stymied career.
The star-studded cast also includes Tig Notaro as a demanding but ultimately supportive circus professor, and the Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray as a music producer who tries to help Doom. Ray’s musical partner, Emily Saliers, also appears in the film.
Considering the years of experience that the writer and director have as filmmakers, I would have expected this film to be more, shall we say, professional. It has some fun scenes, such as a gaudy neon-lit dance club and the forest camping interludes. But the plot wanders aimlessly and the dialogue is sometimes cheesy. Doom’s lyrics, as he performs them or writes them in his notebook, float across the screen endlessly. (I felt like I had memorized the lyrics to “Get Out the Map” and “Have you been lonely,” the chorus from “Bitterroot,” halfway through the film.)
The Indigo Girls’ music—25 songs from their back catalog plus one original one—was arranged and produced by Michelle Chamuel. One of their iconic hits, “Closer to Fine,” also figured prominently this year in Barbie. But a note to Tom Waits’ fans: if you thought, as I did at first, that “Glitter & Doom” referred to Waits’ 2007 concert tour and 2009 album, sorry about that. This Glitter & Doom could have used some of Tom Waits’ raspy voice and twisted down-and-dirty lyrics.
The film opens theatrically Friday, March 15, including at the Music Box Theatre.
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