This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where I'd only first heard of it the very day I saw it. Seeing this dark, grungy low-budget independent movie late at night at a large-scale mainstream theater just seemed to drop in my lap. It was quite an experience. Only halfway through the film did I realize that this shot in my town. There's a scene where we see the profile of Rachael Bella in medium closeup as she drives. In the background, I saw what I had a strange feeling was familiar. Then, after she passes a few dead giveaways, I'm taken by surprise in finding that this film was shot in my city. Well, it was shot in the grimiest and seediest parts of my city, but it's my city. I then realized that that must be the reason why it's being shown at this mainstream theater rather than being confined to the Esquire or the Mariemont theaters.
Jimmy and Judy is one of those relentless gritty and voyeuristic couple-on-the-run movies. It's reminiscent of Francois Ozón's Criminal Lovers, and even Baise Moi, which was scuzzy to the point of being pornographic. Jimmy and Judy is one of those movies that, in the end, is almost completely desensitizing and fixates your mind on a disturbing and morbid atmosphere that you'd rather it not be fixated on, and you end up being under its spell for the next day or two.
That is not to say that Jimmy and Judy is not a well-made movie. It is. Otherwise, how could it put you under such a spell? Its effect is the surefire sign that it's done its job. It's about everything intriguing to that is to most people the underside of your mind. It's all about the effect of alienation, vindication most people only think of under the influence of serious bouts of anger, and other things that, in a movie, are not for everyone. Yes, there are many movies that tackle subject matter like this, but not to such a raw and overwhelming extent. William Sadler's character alone is one of the scariest and most realistic people I think I've ever seen in a movie.
Jimmy and Judy is not quite at the status where it can be called a great movie, but it has a very clear message and a very precise and innovative way of conveying it. It-does-not-pull- any-punches.
