Neo Ned

An unusual romantic comedy tackling taboo subjects is the basis for 'Neo Ned', the story of a white supremacist with a violent nature who, while staying in a psychiatric hospital, meets Rachael, a black woman who thinks she's Hitler. As an unlikely attraction forms between the two, they abscond together, are introduced to Ned's talk-show addict mother and a cop who arrested Ned as a married couple, and blunder their way through a relationship to a surprise ending with a bloody twist.

We suspect early on that neither character is quite as clear-cut as they seem. When not spouting defiance in German, Rachael is mild mannered and almost like an insightful social worker to Ned, who has a tantrum when he can't get sugar on his toast (but explains that he has to 'keep up his reputation' as a psycho). In one of his milder moments, Ned says to Rachael, "Just cos I'm a racist doesn't mean I'm not sensitive." When he makes a Nazi-style collage for her, she tears off and keeps only the corner where he has written, "To Rachel, from your friend Ned."

The oddball element of the characters provides some of the charm as well as much unsettling humour. Ned's mother, who has appeared on six 'Jerry Springer' type chat shows to eulogise her 'misunderstood son' is at first shocked at his liaison with a black woman but then sees the potential and gets on the phone to TV producers the minute the happy couple leave. "Every mother should love their child, no matter what," she proclaims, with well-rehearsed, realistic tears. The phrase has hidden irony when we learn later about Rachael's childhood.

'Neo Ned' is a clever concept and delivered with varying degrees of success. It will attract aficionados while boring the pants off others. Ned's gritty antics will thrill some as harmless escapist entertainment, not to be taken seriously and definitely not to be emulated. The script has an ingenious overall pattern but sags in many parts as it slowly builds up the pieces of a jigsaw. If you are offended by bad language, it's one to avoid, but otherwise it does contain a few gems such as, when trying with his limited vocabulary to backtrack after a night of playing away, Ned exclaims, "I wish to God I could take that back - I wish I could unf*ck her!"

Although much of the pacing struck me as slow, this is really a film that lulls you into thinking one thing so it can hit you between the eyes with something else. As a romantic comedy, I didn't find it very believable, although I admit I warmed to it as we found out more about Ned's character. This is quite intentional, as the film is a journey of self-discovery and finding there is more to a person than is immediately apparent. On another level, it examines racism, and although it is a fairly intelligent insight, I didn't feel it added anything new. Finally (in the last scenes) it hits us with an eye-for-an-eye retributive philosophy, which some people may find worrying and others agree with (and the audience is encouraged to agree). The film has done well on the U.S. festival circuit and I will be curious to see if fares as well in the UK or Europe - where our penal system is less retributive - we generally don't believe in killing people whether as capital punishment or otherwise. Racial tensions outside of the U.S. tend to follow very different patterns and I wonder if audiences will relate to it as well in countries that have had little history of Klu Klux Klan or extremist movements that, strangely enough, also echo certain aspects of Nazi intolerance.

'Neo Ned' is not one of my favourite films. I disliked its treatment of violence and I lost interest several times in the first half. But it is one that people will have strong opinions about, for and against, so you might want to watch it and disagree with me.