Quid Pro Quo

Isaac Knott, played by Nick Stahl is a public radio reporter in New York; he's been in a wheelchair since he was 8, result of an accident that killed his parents. He sets out to investigate a case of extreme Body Integrity Identity Disorder(BIID) not knowing what it is or even that it existed; he discovers there's a subculture of this which he's most curious to try to understand. His character is broken hearted because his ex-girlfriend, also paraplegic, dumped him when he suggested they marry. On his quest to understand BIID, he meets Fiona, played by Vera Farmiga, who he finds interesting and not all that repulsive, considering she appears to be afflicted by BIID and in a progressive stage; she is gorgeous after all, and seduces him. He comes across a pair of shoes he's compelled to own, and when he does put them on he magically gains use of his legs, a freak occurrence that only works when he wears them. Up to this point you may feel, as I did, this movie is not going to be one you'll be interested in seeing to the end; I wouldn't blame you, as the subject lends itself to that. However because I really like Vera Farmiga, I stuck it out; can't think another reason one would. The meeting of the two lead characters is not a chance thing; a deep purpose is at play and unfortunately isn't revealed till late in the movie. The connection of the two leads and that purpose I mentioned was well conceived, I have to admit. You'll also learn about another disorder, hysterical paralysis, thanks to the very good writing by writer/director Carlos Brooks in his debut work. If you have the stomach for that sort of thing watch it, you may learn something. There are unavoidable comparisons one can make to the 1996 David Cronenberg's film Crash, but I won't. I also won't be mentioning or recommending this film to my friends; they may think I'm even more twisted than I sound at times, but I'm not. What I am is a movie buff with a broad interest and if you are as well, you may find it interesting.

This film is about a paralysed radio presenter who meets a woman who wants to be paralysed, with unexpected psychological results to both of them. The initial hour of "Quid Pro Quo" is disguised as a fetishistic film about a woman who gets sexual excitement by living a paralysed life. it is a bizarre and incomprehensible topic which is likely to put people off. After looking beyond that, the film offers little to engage viewers. There is little to make people want to know what will happen to the characters. The last ten minutes improve substantially, as the sudden plot twist shifts the focus from a fetishistic emphasis to a moving drama about guilt and conscience. If "Quid Pro Quo" could expand on the guilt and conscience theme, and tone down on the fetishistic theme, then it would be likely to have more success.

Quid Pro Quo is a character study focusing on people who wish they were paraplegics or amputees, and their interaction with an actual paraplegic. The film's greatest attribute is its performances. Vera Farmiga and Nick Stahl both create excellent portrayals of their characters, with Farmiga's performance being particularly moving. Although many reviewers have compared this piece to David Cronenberg's Crash, this movie is actually a far different work. Whereas the Cronenberg movie, like the J. G. Ballard novel it was based on, took a very cold, analytical look at its subject matter, this film delves into their psychology. It is a much easier film to engage with, and ultimately more rewarding as well. The film is not perfect by any means. Its focus on sex as empowerment comes across as oversimplified and even vaguely insulting to the disabled. Furthermore, the plot developments that comprise the last ten minutes of the movie border on the absurd, and survive largely on the strength of the actors' performances. Nonetheless, the film is well worth a watch.

Set on the very fringes of underground society, Carlos Brooks' "Quid Pro Quo" is a humane and compassionate tale of non-handicapped people who have a pathological obsession with becoming either partially or totally disabled (or at least living their lives as if they were). In the most extreme cases, some will even go so far as to stage accidents, endure amputations or employ special drugs to turn their fantasy into reality. And, like anyone who's harboring a deep, dark secret from a critical world, these people are forced to live their lives in the closet, terrified that they will be rejected by those they care most about if they reveal the truth of who they really are inside. Isaac Knott (Nick Stahl) has been a paraplegic since he was a teen, the result of a car accident in which both his parents were killed. He's now a reporter for a local radio station and it is through an assignment for his work that he meets a group of able-bodied "wannabes," as well as an attractive young woman named Fiona (Vera Farmiga from "Up in the Air") who desperately wants to live life in a wheelchair and implores Isaac to help her achieve that goal. This quiet and gentle, though emotionally complex, film rises above its potentially tricky subject matter through insightful performances, sensitive writing, and a plot that nicely dovetails into itself in the second half. We discover that there's a great deal more to both Isaac and Fiona and their relationship than initially meets the eye, and those revelations go a long way towards deepening the theme and enhancing the characters.

I watch a lot films; in a week it differs from 5 to 10. This screenplay was unique in way that made me think about myself and life and how vulnerable we are. These two very interesting characters where the moment you met them you want to learn more about them is acted by two very talented actor/actress named Nick Stahl and elegant Vera Farmiga. Before the half of the movie I presumed the big twist about the Nick's character but it was hidden and portrayed in a fine way that when the answer is shown to the audience, you don't feel so much surprise but also you don't feel cheated in any way. Hence, it feels like life itself. Consequently, the ending which was very beautiful cinematographically with a touch of reality that makes it absolutely delicious that leads to pause when Nick's character ends the film with the line: Isacc Knott, Public Radio, New York.

Helpful Note: Wikipedia definition: Quid pro quo (Latin for "something for something") indicates a more-or-less equal exchange or substitution of goods or services. Carlos Brooks makes an impressive debut as both writer and director of this little independent film QUID PRO QUO, a story that may make some viewers uncomfortable because of the subject matter, but an intelligent investigation of a subculture unknown to most and a script that leads to a surprising ending - if the viewer keeps thinking after the rolling credits are over! Isaac (Nick Stahl) is a reporter for a small radio station, a role that gives him the opportunity to uncover novel human interest stories for his audience. Interestingly, Isaac is a paraplegic, confined to a wheelchair since age 8 when he was the survivor of a car crash that killed both his parents. He has full function of most of his body, but cannot walk. Isaac receives an email from one 'Ancient Chinese Girl' that contains a message about a person who convinced a doctor to amputate a normal leg. Isaac is fascinated and sets out to investigate the story and eventually discovers the source of the email - one young and very beautiful Fiona (Vera Farmiga) - who introduces him to a subculture of people who want to be wheelchair bound: in a group meeting Isaac hears strange stories from a disparate group of people who meet to discuss their obsession with being paralyzed, their chance to be noticed and cared about as quasi-invalids who would go so far as having an amputation of a normal limb to enable their wheelchair dreams. Isaac soon discovers that Fiona shares this obsession, demonstrates her secrets to Isaac, and the two begin to bond physically and emotionally. Isaac is the first person to see Fiona make her 'debut' in public in a wheelchair. They share lunch in a café and share their life experiences: Isaac confesses that he harbors foreshortened memory of his accident - his last memory is lying in the road seeing a young girl with red and white pompoms trying to save him. Isaac surprises himself (and shares his surprise with Fiona) when he buys a pair of 'Fred Astaire shoes', and upon trying them on, he is able to walk! Fiona's response is mixed - she is happy that Isaac is ambulatory but at the same time she is led to believe that Isaac's paralysis may be of an hysterical nature, that he really has never been paralyzed except as a reaction to the guilt he harbors about his parent's death and his sole survivorship of the accident. How these two people deal with the information as it develops provides a startling ending to this story, a detective mystery that in retrospect proves to have given us, the audience, countless clues throughout the film - clues only discovered in retrospect! Both Nick Stahl and Vera Farmiga give vital performances, able to draw us in to their odd characters and make us care. There are many fine cameo roles - Kate Burton as Fiona's mother, James Frain as Isaac's priest friend, and all the members of the wannabe wheelchair bound group - and the cinematography by Michael McDonough is both appropriately claustrophobic indoors and transcendently beautiful in the tulip fields of Skagit Valley, WA used as the setting for the upstate New York accident location. Mark Mothersbaugh ties the moods of the film together with his expert musical score. This is a tough little film to watch, but a film that supplies much gratification and challenge. It is a fine debut for Carlos Brooks. Recommended. Grady Harp

"Quid Pro Quo" is about handicapped reporter Isaac (Nick Stahl) as he's given an odd story - people who wish to be handicapped. His investigation leads him to Fiona (Vera Farmiga), a capable woman who wishes she could be in a wheelchair like himself. As their relationship blossoms, he discovers some shocking information about Fiona, as well as try to come to terms with his own guilt about why he's handicapped, all of which leads to a shocking climax. This is a pretty decent movie (Magnolia Pictures always seem to do excellent work), with great acting, a superior story and deep insight into the lives of people most don't understand - those who wish to be handicapped even though they're not.

The film has am extremely simple plot. Very young guy confined to wheelchair by hysterical paralysis mixed with partial traumatic amnesia produced by the parent-killing car wreck occurring years ago when he was a child meets but of course doesn't recognize young chick who drove the car that caused the accident and is now obsessed with the idea of becoming a paraplegic like him aka like the kid in the car she crashed into. This simplistic view of two "mental illnesses" gets dressed up with 1) obsessed chick arranging to meet (and sleep with, equally of course) wheelchair bound guy via the plot device of anonymously informing him of a human interest story (he is an NPR-radio-station-type reporter) 2) utterly stupid 'human interest story' (an urban legend style boffo about a bunch of people who "wannabe" paralyzed for no particular reason whatsoever) 3) "magic fred astaire shoes" (of course, again, the shoes are nothing more than a mental "crutch" the guy is subconsciously using to give himself a reason to walk... that enable wheelchair guy to walk...after falling down a lot, only very slowly, with crutches or a cane...sort of like you'd expect someone who has been working out to retard muscular atrophy but who hasn't stood or walked for years to behave when finally standing and walking... 3) a few couldabeengreat lines that came off as too silly to be taken half-seriously because of the trying-to-be-an-allegory but frankly rather silly plot. (Example: "I'm a paralyzed person trapped in a walking person's body." Sillier example: "wannabe" paralyzed to alleviate her guilt over putting the guy in a wheelchair chick says to him --seriously!!!-- after they discover his paralysis is actually hysterical: "Why would anyone wannabe paralyzed?") The story could have been very good. It was just so obvious about its allegory role and so silly in its urban legend depiction of the way guilt-ridden obsessed chick got into crash victim guy's bed that it kind of gut punched its own good qualities. The next effort probably will be decent.

This had positive reviews but i've run marathons that passed faster. I watched it with a friend and half way through felt compelled to stop it and apologise, which I've never done before. I eventually finished it but remain baffled by what anyone could think this movie has going for it. As mentioned elsewhere, the main theme here is able bodied people who want to become paralysed, or paraplegic. So if that's the single most mind blowing and fascinating concept you've ever heard of, then you probably still shouldn't bother watching this because it's not like they explain it. The characters dawdle along through tedious lives and pointless, boring conversations. None of the dialogue or actions are interesting or engaging at all. Occasionally things get a little animated, but it's usually difficult to understand why and always completely impossible to care in the slightest. Eventually I'm pretty sure nothing happens at the end but even though I just finished a couple of hours ago I can't remember much other than feeling very grateful.

This was probably the worst movie I have seen since The Arrival. And one of the worst films I have ever seen in my life. Having been suckered into renting this horrific piece of garbage, i left the movie experience feeling ill- literally. Horrible screen writing, atrocious acting, contrived bullshit plots, and unbelievable characters. Magic Shoes? Ginger Jake? Am I expected to believe that somebody who has been in a wheelchair for 20 years could just get up and start walking. Somehow I don't think the human body works that way. If they wanted to make a sci-fi movie maybe they should have contacted Spielberg. How could Vera Farmiga go from being in The Departed to being in this horrendous crap pile of a movie. She should shoot her agent. And anyone who liked this film should shoot themselves.