A Town Called Panic Opens Thursday at the Alamo [Review]

We’ve seen some great films lately (Up in The Air, The Hurt Locker, Summer Hours), but none of them could fairly be called “fun” to watch. Artful, poetic and intelligent, yes. Screwballishly funny and lovably ridiculous? No. That’s territory covered by A Town Called Panic, and now’s the time to take a stroll.

This French speaking, stop-motion animated feature took home the Audience Award at last year’s Fantastic Fest, where it won the hearts of Alamo Drafthouse program directors as well. They loved this film and they think you will, too; that’s why they have “jumped through flaming hoops” to bring it back to Austin.

Directed by Belgians Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar, A Town Called Panic is based on a series of acclaimed short pieces starring prototypical toy figures Horse, Cowboy and Indian. Conceptually simple (it’s a bunch of familiar-looking figurines jumping around the screen) but skillfully and joyfully made, this often nonsensical film is cartoon mania at its best.

The plot (speaking of nonsense) takes off with Cowboy and Indian deciding to build a homemade barbecue in honor of Horse’s birthday. It turns out that plastic figures aren’t so adept at online shopping, and they accidentally order 50 million bricks instead of just 50. The freight delivery sets off a chaotic chain of events that grows to include snowball-throwing scientists, kleptomaniac fish people and a journey to the center of the earth. Poor Horse—he’s the responsible one and by far the most lovable equine cartoon character we’ve yet to encounter—tries to hold everything together while also building the courage to tell the lovely Madame Longray (a talented and pretty piano-playing horse, mais oui) that he’s madly in love with her.

Intermittent sight gags punctuate the goofy and rambling storyline, making it a constantly surprising and quickly moving viewing experience. We don’t want to give away all the good stuff, but parachuting cows, giant slices of toast and dramatically ironic cell phone calls are just a few features to look forward to. By the way, though, this isn’t a grown-up film in kid’s clothing. What you see is pretty much what you get, so if you’re looking for hidden political messages or dirty jokes, you’re probably overthinking it.

That may be what we liked best about A Town Called Panic. It was funny, unexpected and charming, and it wasn’t weighed down by a hidden agenda. Watching this kooky, light-as-a-feather film allows for the opportunity to briefly and completely escape the madness of the real world. Watch the trailer here to get a taste of what we mean.

A Town Called Panic opens Thursday night at midnight at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar. One more thing: in conjunction with the film’s DVD release in a few months, Zeitgeist Films is holding a stop-motion filmmaking contest whose winner will be featured on the DVD. Entrants should create a three-minute film inspired by the theme of “panic”. Surely someone in Austin is up for the challenge?