A strange and heavily convoluted independent dramedy thriller featuring the lovely Karen Black. I wanted to like the film more, but that would have required me to know what the hell was going on.

An interesting view for those that really really lov... (read more) A strange and heavily convoluted independent dramedy thriller featuring the lovely Karen Black. I wanted to like the film more, but that would have required me to know what the hell was going on.

An interesting view for those that really really love independent film and independent bookstores. From the description, I thought it would have more of a fantastical or scifi theme, but it didn't really, so don't be misled by descriptions suggesting such.

Solid acting, nice movie, if not a little discombobulated.

The story centers around Black Oaks Bookstore [filmed in the real bookstore of the same name based in Berkeley] manager Dante [Tony Amendola] who seems happy being amongst books, and finds himself inadvertently coming into the possession of a book ti... (read more) The story centers around Black Oaks Bookstore [filmed in the real bookstore of the same name based in Berkeley] manager Dante [Tony Amendola] who seems happy being amongst books, and finds himself inadvertently coming into the possession of a book titled The Illustrated Book of Failure [the seller, a mysterious character played by Danny Glover disappears soon after giving the book to Dante]. Dante finds himself strangely affected by the book and promptly files it under Esoteric books. He tries to get his co-worker Kate [Karen Black] interested in it, but with so many other things happening, Kate only gets to see the book much later.

There are other characters in the story - Norman [Ricardo Gil] and Marcia [Shaun Landry] who work in the store, regular customers Gina [Catalina Larranaga] who is 'unlucky in love' and an older man named Benny. There are also some fine performances by other minor characters such as Zoe [Barbara Crampton] who chooses the bookstore as the venue for her tryst with a lover, not knowing that her ex-lover Dante is working there.

The story truly takes off when a doctor and his young daughter come into the bookstore. The doctor is a whistleblower and is being hunted by a pair of goons working for a pharmaceutical company - he chooses to hide some incriminating evidence in a particular book and the rest of the story deals with what happens to him and the other characters as they find the mysterious Book of Failures exercising some strange magic on them and their actions - giving some a chance to redeem past failures.

Though it does take some time for the story to gain momentum, it is an engaging watch. The whole movie is set in the bookstore where the main action takes place, and though that may seem a bit claustrophobic, it actually works here - and this is a huge bookstore with many nooks and crannies. Being a booklover myself, I truly enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to those who not only love books, but who enjoy movies that unfold slowly, focusing on character development and not so much on action. The rating here is Unrated, and there are some sexual scenes and minimal profanity. Final verdict: an interesting and engaging indie flick!