The Climb

And How The Administration Is Anti-Prison Union

Two men, furiously pedaling up a hill. Both of them, believing this is business as usual, two buddies getting some exercise. Kyle (Kyle Marvin) is out of shape, trying to indulge his friend in a new hobby, struggling to keep up. Michael (Michael Angelo Covino, also director) can’t help but show off his new athletic frame. And also, by the way, Mike adds, I am sleeping with your fiance. Michael does not stop pedaling, and therefore Kyle, breathing heavily, and struggling with this hill, will not stop either. The two are friends. How can either of them stop pedaling?

This is the beginning of “The Climb”, the debut of two of the sharpest comedic minds in a generation, that being Covino and Marvin, who co-wrote this movie based on their own short. These are the type of comedies people used to make once before, shaped into something superior: not a high concept romp, but a story of people stuck between societal expectations and the kind of behavior that is expected between friends and neighbors. Michael’s confession at the start of the film is not the end of a bike ride that has tremendous consequences, for themselves and others. I’ve not seen the original short on which the movie is based, though it’s likely similar to the compelling first “chapter” of this film.

The issue of infidelity hangs over the relationship between Michael and Kyle. Kyle’s girlfriend ends up marrying Mike, but the conclusion to that particular union places only a semicolon on the rift between the two of them, one they refuse to acknowledge due to a long and fruitful friendship based heavily on neither of them, in the tradition of men, ever confronting each others’ feelings until they bubble over.

Much of this plays out through the easy chemistry between Covino and Martin. Covino, the most extroverted of the two, typically tries to bulldozer through scenes due to his always-active motormouth. With his sunken eyes and casual intensity, he’s as if Oscar Isaac somehow fell down the stairs, landing on every step. Marvin, the more responsive of the two, is like a dim bear of a man, thousand mile stare and constant passive questioning, like young John C. Reilly playing Pooh Bear. Covino has been good on his own – he stole scenes from an all-star cast in the otherwise-middling “Riff Raff” recently. But it’s clear he’s sharpest alongside Marvin, alternately goading and finessing him. What we’re seeing within the narrative is one person bullying the person he truly loves as a friend, but also caring for him and looking out for him. What’s funny is what feels most honest, and the dynamic between these two speaks to any long-term friendship one might have, as it’s survived and mutated through the hard times.

In the movie, Kyle and Mike take turns spiraling out of their lives, most of their interpersonal chaos with others unfurling through masterful long takes. Covino knows how to capture an emotional freneticism within the frame through his handheld work, showing a Cassavetes-like understanding of how the camera can spot an open space to contrast, or accentuate, his characters’ recklessness. But in setting up and paying off elaborate physical stunts and gags, his work recalls that of early Buster Keaton as well, that sense of slapstick props hastily assembled to fall into their right places. Very few comedic directors understand how to tell a joke simply through framing. Covino somehow nailed it in his first film.

“The Climb” is the sort of feat you never see any more, the sharp comedic voice of a filmmaker emerging fully-formed in only one’s first movie. Contrast that with something like Wes Anderson’s charming “Bottle Rocket”, a film that nonetheless lacks a lot of the meticulous traits that define Anderson’s storytelling, a movie that’s clever and kind and fueled by comedic invention, but not one that feels of a voice as distinct as what Anderson would end up mastering. Covino only now got to his second directorial effort, “Splitsville”, possibly the funniest movie of this current year. That picture only further solidifies the work of himself and Marvin (who, again, co-stars and co-writes), as storytellers with a precise outlook on relationships that is both not like anything seen on a film screen before and yet, completely recognizable. I’m glad to find that, on this quest I’ve undertaken, “The Climb” is one of my absolute favorite discoveries.

In current events, it has been discussed that this administration has been dedicated to turning the Bureau of Prisons into a force geared towards imprisoning illegal immigrants as much as housing and, presumably, rehabilitating criminals. This has been cheered by advocates of less lenient positions on law enforcement, the presumption being that we’re going to embolden everyone involved in law enforcement to no longer worry about restrictions and political nuance. The Bureau, in many ways, was being tasked with an important calling, and whether they’re jailing a killer, a rapist or someone who violated federal immigration law, officials had their back.

Obviously, the result has been what occurs whenever someone takes over a new business – how to get more people to take less to do more. Via executive order, the administration has cancelled a collective bargaining agreement with employees of the Bureau of Prisons, stripping union members of their rights and protections. This is unfortunate for the guards and staff members in place, but more importantly, this rolls downstream. There are now less protections for those in prison. Less protections means there is less motivation to care for inmates, less concern with overall lifestyle conditions. Without the protection of a union, why would a guard assist an inmate? Why would they jeopardize their standings to make sure someone gets the proper care? Busting the unions will be a move that threatens and harms the vulnerable, the prisoners, who now face the prospect of being under the thumb of people trying to cover their own ass as opposed to helping inmates in need, in distress, and requiring of rehabilitation. This decision feeds a beast that needs to die.