Quid Pro Quo

Carlos Brooks‘ “Quid Pro Quo” is a film that can be both shrewdly fascinating and wickedly disturbing depending on how you look at it. It’s fascinating in the sense that it deals with something I was previously unfamiliar with, but disturbing because the premise revolves around a secret society of people who wish they were paralyzed (Yes, you read that right). Apparently, this bizarre circle of outsiders meets in an undisclosed location to discuss their craving for familial approval and how the aura of the wheelchair makes them feel more alive than ever before. Now, if you base your opinion entirely on that alone, you’ll only be cheating yourself, because what unfolds over these hard-hitting eighty-two minutes is a surprisingly provocative voyage of self-realization that never feels lethargic or put on.

Nick Stahl (Terminator 3) plays Isaac Knott, a paraplegic NPR storyteller who comes across a mysterious able-bodied woman with an inconceivable desire to spend her life in a wheelchair and quickly becomes entranced by her unrefined modus operandi of psychosexual seduction. Their relationship is something of a train wreck at the onset due to his inability to understand her situation, but the way Brooks weaves this Hitchcockian narrative sets the audience up for an experience completely opposed to any sensation of lifeless conventionality. What starts out as an adverse fling transforms about mid-way through into a multifaceted connection that Isaac doesn’t know the half of.

As mature as Stahl appears to be here, the film wouldn’t have packed nearly the same punch without the emotionally hypnotic presence of Vera Farmiga (“The Departed”). She plays Fiona with all the gravity and anguish you’d expect from such a character, so when she’s fuming, we’re fuming right along with her. After 2004’s “Down to the Bone,” Farmiga established herself as an actress who could tackle severely damaged characters and still make the audience care about them, so Fiona is just another inspired step toward juicier roles in the future. It’s not the plush fare usually favored by the Academy, but the acting is superlative nonetheless.

Whether this film is granted a wide release still remains a mystery, but if you’re looking for something a little out of the ordinary, may I suggest trying to find it before the DVD shelves come calling. I know it’s only June, but 2008 has already been an especially strong year for small independent films and I can only hope that studios continue to give the green light to projects as ambitious as this one. I love cash hounds such as “Indiana Jones” and “The Dark Knight” just as much as the next guy, but I also enjoy pictures that challenge people, so for that Mr. Brooks, I applaud you.

- *** ½ out of 4