Mr. Downtown is an urban tale about a young man named Johnny (Robert Dastoli) whose friends keep getting killed by an untouchable crime lord named Mr. Downtown (Mike Harris). A conversation with a detective seems to indicate that this is his real name. The movie is mainly about how much bullshit Johnny is willing to put up with before he'll put his neck on the line and do something about it. At its heart, then, it is about the importance of kids challenging seemingly invincible forces, which is a not entirely unworthy thing to explore.

The commentary does not address this, but rather provides insight into mainly physical problems encountered during filming. Although, James and Robert are uncharacteristically reserved when describing all the complications. They refer to "unpleasantness" when they should be telling us about how they got arrested because a woman called the cops when they were shooting a thug chasing them with a gun. And they never reveal why Robert plays the lead instead of James! This is the only time it's happened, and to me, it is the ultimate defining feature of this movie. One might postulate that Johnny's fear of the god-like Mr. Downtown was a metaphor for Robert's unspoken apprehension to perform under the monumental shadow of his superstar brother. I can say with intense certainty that had James played the role of Johnny, this movie would be totally different. James doesn't put up with bullshit, so Johnny's reluctance would not have been real. Robert puts up with bullshit and does so with a smile on his face, which some might say takes more strength than the former.

The most interesting thing about James and Robert's commentary is how it illuminates points that might have seemed totally different on speculation. For instance, the viewer might have an idea as to why a shot looks a certain way, or why a certain actor was chosen, but they would probably be wrong. Everything in this movie happened because of when they were shooting, and no other reason. Repeatedly, we are told how circumstance dictated drastic changes in lighting and composition. How one actor was used because they happened to be driving into the school at the time when Dastolis were getting their shots. Makes you wonder if that girl at the beginning of Jaws was actually cast by anyone, or if she just happened to be swimming there that day. Ironically enough, the one moment I was sure had been altered by circumstance was actually planned that way from the beginning. It is in the opening of the movie, when a hitman goes to a kid's house and the door opens and we hear a gunshot. I thought the reason we don't see the kid is because they couldn't get an actor (Dastolis can never get actors; that's why I have a speaking role in Equal Justice). But the script specifically notes that we are only supposed to see the door starting to open, and then cut to black. Suit yourself, guys. You could've had Scott Yager as the doomed Guino and instantly made us hate Louie the Owl.

I guess my favorite part of this movie is when Louie the Owl is chasing Johnny and Maria with the seeming intent of shooting them in broad daylight, when Detective Ferncroft drives up out of nowhere and yells "Get in the car!" That's awesome. My least favorite part is that I had no idea what the fuck was happening at the end. All those guys getting arrested off screen? It doesn't read, because I didn't realize it happened until I read the script. But just so we don't end on a sour note, I'm going to make this a compliment sandwich and say that I enjoyed the anecdotes in the commentary that had no business being there, such as Robert's account of how James initially screwed up the credits by naming himself "Dastoli Dastoli" or how they saw their teacher fly fishing during one of the shoots.

Here is what the Dastolis have to say about Mr. Downtown:

ROBERT:

"The production of Mr. Downtown was delayed a couple months not only because we were waiting for the GL-1, but also because The Black Iris took so much longer to finish than it really should have needed. We were originally envisioning Mr. Downtown to take place in a cold (in both temperature and color scheme) setting. That of course had to be changed to the July heat. If we had done it earlier though, I don't think the construction site (which was at our high school) would have looked as good)"

JAMES:

"The main reason why Mr. Downtown turned out the way that it did was because by the time we were able to make the film, we had already lost interest in it."

Needless to say, James, that quote should be on the poster.