The Pleasure of Being Robbed (2008)

Directed by Josh Safdie. Starring Eleonore Hendricks, Josh Safdie, Wayne Chin, Jerry Damons, Jordan Valdez.

Josh Safdie’s middling filmmaking debut tracks a klepto (Hendricks) over the course of a few days. It plays into negative stereotypes of the indie film circuit—DIY lo-fi craft and flubs, frustrating camerawork (the kind where you’d almost have to be trying to look so amateurish at times), acting that mistakes uninteresting for naturalistic, a near-total absence of plot, “nothing said, nothing learned”, etc. A few modestly endearing and curious moments, like the early portion of a nighttime “adventure” shared by Hendricks and a friend (played by the director), and a scolding from a table tennis player for her intrusion and lack of focus, but it’s mostly a slack, aimless yawner begging for a reason to exist. The only feature to date from Safdie that wasn’t billed as a directorial collaboration with brother Benny; Benny does, however, earn co-editing credit.

38/100