Passenger Side (2009)

• Year: 2009
• Released: 01 Apr 2011
• Country: Canada
• Adwords: 1 nomination
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1227170/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/passenger_side
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English, Spanish
• MPA Rating: N/A
• Genre: Comedy, Drama
• Runtime: 85 min
• Writer: Matt Bissonnette
• Director: Matt Bissonnette
• Cast: Adam Scott, Joel Bissonnette, Richard Medina
• Keywords: los angeles, california,

	5.9/10
	94% – Critics
	59% – Audience

Passenger Side Storyline

Michael Brown’s birthday begins with a telephone call from his estranged, drug addicted brother Tobey. Tobey is totally unaware that it is his older brother’s birthday, but he is very aware that his car is broken, and he begs Michael to drive him on various apparently legitimate, vital errands. As Bruce Springsteen has astutely noted, “a man who turns his back on his family just ain’t no good”. So Michael puts off his seemingly romantic birthday plans, and with his brother embarks on a sketchy, meandering day long odyssey though the mysteries of Los Angeles County. As the day wears on, it becomes clear that this drive will lead them to some very unexpected destinations.—Passenger Side

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Passenger Side Movie Reviews

A good indie drama/comedy with Adam Scott in his element

I picked Passenger Side as one of the 15 films i would watch during Cinequest this year as its the closest film festival to me, and they usually do a good job of picking both independent American films as well as noteworthy films of world cinema. Anyhow im glad they showed Bisonnette’s “Passenger Ride”. Although compared to Apatow, i think Bisonnette brings fresh comedy with a different style than Apatow. The writer/director does a good job setting up the mood using effective cinematography and a cool soundtrack. I liked the fact that they are basically driving across Los Angeles from one hot spot to another, the acting and writing linked up well as the director’s brother was perfect for the role which seems to be somewhat biographical, and Adam Scott delivered one hell of a performance as the main character. The story is about Michael(Scott) giving his brother(Bisonette) rides around town to handle some things, the true reason kind of vague until later. Overall this was a film that was enjoyable, meaningful, and at times downright hilarious, hopefully it gets proper distribution.

Funny, quirky little indie with a fantastic soundtrack

I attended the World Premiere of “Passenger Side” at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival. Written and directed by Matthew Bissonnette, “Passenger Side” stars Joel Bisssonnette and Adam Scott as two brothers reluctantly brought together on a mission to find…well, we’re not quite sure. And, yes, Joel is Matthew’s brother, so it would be hard to escape the autobiographical implications of Bissonnette’s script.

Road movies are not that rare. What is novel, however, is one which takes place within the confines of one city. Here the location is Los Angeles.

“Passenger Side” is indie all the way — in its look, sound, and quirky sensibilities. Nothing fancy here, just a character-driven narrative that is both poignant and witty, as one would expect from a story centered around two brothers driving around in a car for a day. The strength of a film like this lies in the impact of the sketch comedy represented by each stop along the way, and some vignettes are gut-bustingly hilarious.

What makes this film unique, though, is the way in which the filmmakers worked the music into the story. Unlike most movies where songs are added in post-production as they become available, Bissonnette actually crafted scenes around tunes that he already had in mind. It’s as if the movie is a series of music videos, with the action set to the songs, not the other way around. I got chills when the pair reached the shores of the Pacific with Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne” playing in the background (“you can hear the boats go by…”).

quirky and lovable

As I watched this film, enjoying almost all of it, I thought of the kind of reactions it might elicit in others. True to form, they all seem to be present in these IMDb reviews. Yes, I agree- it’s quirky as hell. But not off-puttingly so. Yes, it has some blunt sexual material but, again, not off-puttingly so. It’s got some implied gore, but because it is essentially off-camera, it too is not offputting. There is no plot, so to speak. So what? It’s a road movie. That’s code for ‘character-driven’ and there are plenty of them here. The music is often terrific. It just seems to fit despite the recent tendency to use a song’s lyrics to explain or underscore the point of a scene. That’s a practice I find incredibly disrespectful to an audience and I’m sad to see it has entered the mainstream. It doesn’t happen here.

The scene with the transsexual hooker is great. It’s not exploitive; it doesn’t moralize. It manages to have humor and warmth. The porn-shoot scene was surprising and eye-opening. Are the people involved in making and producing porn really so empty-headed? I didn’t expect that quickie-sex movies would draw a cast and crew of Rhodes scholars, but this was really jolting. Again, very naturally portrayed here. The “Tupperware party” comment was hilarious.

This kind of movie is going to find its own niche audience. It reminded me of “Me and You and Everyone We Know,” although I’m not sure I can tell you why. In any case PASSENGER SIDE worked for me. I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it to anybody, but if they asked, I’d tell them to see it.