Toast with the Gods

Running time: N/A

Fasten your seat belts! This wildly rich interpretation of the classic Odysseus journey would most likely restore Homer's sight and have Joseph Campbell jumping for joy. Set in the teeming underworld of Grunge sub-culture Seattle, TWG follows the heroic voyage of small-time drug dealer Toast as he struggles to make his way back home to rescue his lover Penelope, a stripper who has been abducted by a murderous band of hired killers. Spurred on by visions of the good life in a place called Happy World--where he and Penelope can live happily ever after--Toast battles the malignant forces who seek to destroy him, and his dream. Along the way the intrepid hero encounters every kind of imaginable obstacle, from evil gods and goddesses to seductive sirens who seek to divert him from his path. But true to his heroic instincts, Toast remains undaunted and strives on, finally rescuing his beloved stripper in a climactic confrontation. Replete with vibrant and colorful images and deliciously uninhibited, TWG flat out goes for it. Genuine mavericks, directors Magun and Pellegrini refuse to compromise their vision. By casually throwing restraint out the window, they create a topsy turvy world gone giddily insane and enticingly dangerous. It is a glimpse through a tear in the fabric of our mundane everyday perceptions that is as seductive as it is disturbing. But all that aside, it also happens to be one hell of a lot of fun, quirky and inventive, risky and bold. Somewhere, someplace, James Joyce must be smiling. --P.D. Crane