Near-constant closeups reveal lead thesp Derek Bogart’s consummate ease before the camera, but the device can’t prevent Kazik Radwanski’s debut feature, “Tower,” from infecting auds with near-constant tedium. This tale of a socially awkward 34-year-old living with his parents holds zero interest with its slice-of-a-dull-life look at an uninteresting loser; while the pic is stylistically intriguing, if unoriginal, there isn’t enough in the filmmaking or the story to keep auds in their seats for even the relatively short running time. “Tower” will disappear behind the clouds of indie obscurity.
While fitfully laying claim to being a graphic animator, Derek (Bogart) works freelance for his uncle’s construction company. After a lengthy romantic dry spell, he gets together with Nicole (Nicole Fairbairn), yet he’s unable to sustain a relationship or much else. Press materials mention a raccoon, but the beast makes an appearance only in the last few minutes, by which time any metaphorical significance can be shrugged off. Derek’s propensity for lying is equal to his dreariness, and no amount of closeups, reducing the world to the character’s bald pate, can make it worthwhile.
