SnoopyStyle Josh Hutton (Robert John Burke) leaves prison and returns into town. Pearl is shocked by his return. Audry Hugo (Adrienne Shelly) is a depressed cynical teen. She is accepted into Harvard but doesn't see the point of going. Her boyfriend is callous to her concerns. She suggests a mechanics job at her dad's garage to Hutton. Everybody starts to speculate what he actually did.Hal Hartley has written some mannered and artificial dead pan humor. I actually like that but it has to be delivered expertly. The delivery is lacking from most of these actors and the directing is not quite there. I can see good potential for something great. Adrienne is not really young enough for the teen role. Her character could have been written as a twenty something. Overall, this is an interesting indie that could have been more compelling.

gpadillo Fraught with over obvious symbolism, Hartley's early feature is nonetheless a joy to watch. Hal here shows us his uncanny ability to cast his characters perfectly came early in his career.Adrienne Shelley is a near perfect foil to herself, equal parts annoying teen burgeoning in her sexuality (though using sex for several years); obsessed with doom and inspired by idealism gone wrong she is deceptively – and simultaneously – complex and simple. Her Audrey inspires so many levels of symbolism it is almost embarrassingly rich (e.g., her modeling career beginning with photos of her foot – culminating her doing nude (but unseen) work; Manhattan move; Europe trip; her stealing, then sleeping with the mechanics wrench, etc.) As Josh, Robert Burke gives an absolutely masterful performance. A reformed prisoner/penitent he returns to his home town to face down past demons, accept his lot and begin a new life. Dressed in black, and repeatedly mistaken for a priest, he corrects everyone ("I'm a mechanic"), yet the symbolism is rich: he abstains from alcohol, he practices celibacy (is, in fact a virgin), and seemingly has taken on vows of poverty, and humility as well. The humility seems hardest to swallow seeming, at times, almost false, a pretense. Yet, as we learn more of Josh we see genuineness in his modesty, that his humility is indeed earnest and believable. What seems ironic is the character is fairly forthright in his simplicity, yet so richly drawn it becomes the viewer who wants to make him out as more than what he actually is. A fascinatingly written character, perfectly played.The scene between Josh and Jane (a wonderful, young Edie Falco . . . "You need a woman not a girl") is hilarious . . . real. But Hartley can't leave it as such and his trick, having the actors repeat the dialogue over-and-over becomes frustratingly "arty" and annoying . . . until again it becomes hilarious. What a terrific sense of bizarre reality this lends the film (like kids in a perpetual "am not"/"are too" argument). Hartley's weaves all of a small neighborhood's idiosyncrasies into a tapestry of seeming stereotypes but which delves far beneath the surface, the catalyst being that everyone believes they know what the "unbelievable truth" of the title is, yet no two people can agree (including our hero) on what exactly that truth is. A wonderful little movie with some big ideas.

Brian Ellis I first saw this movie when I was 22 and I thought it was fantastic. I have seen it several times since then and each time I enjoy it but I don't have the enthusiasm that I once had. That might be, because every Hal Hartley movie I have seen since (three others) is exactly the same in dialogue, acting and direction. But enough on the negative. The positive - the cast: Robert Burke, Adrienne Shelley and the rest do a great job. I really enjoyed the dialogue, there doesn't seem to be a wasted word and all of the push fighting. How come Seagal doesn't try that? So, in summary, this is the best Hartley film so far.

Reid-14 I surely don't understand the hype which surrounds this movie. Yes, it has a certain indie edginess to it, but the script is mostly annoying and the acting is dreadful. This film is, indeed, unbelievable, but not even remotely connected to any truth I know of.