Sean Parker
One of the films that I was really excited about playing this year’s Chattanooga Film Festival, was Trevor Stevens’ The Misadventures of Vince and Hick. When the film played on Friday, I was a little busy being used as a storytelling device for Clay McLeod Chapman’s “The Pumpkin Pie Show,” but found solace in knowing I’d be able to catch the film virtually once I’d returned home. After seeing it this past weekend during the festival’s virtual finale, I genuinely wish I’d had another opportunity to see it on a bigger screen. It’s a sunbaked Coen-coded crime caper brimming with a unique array of quirky characters, farcical situations, and artfully bloody violence, all while being charmingly humorous throughout.
The Misadventures of Vince and Hick begins in black and white as Hick Dunn (The Axiom’s Chase Cargill) is released from lockup, trying to find gainful employment to no avail. After calling his ex-wife and getting invited to his daughter’s birthday party in Santa Fe, he promises to be there without knowing how to make that work financially. Listening to a loud mouth douchebag blather on about how money absolutely grows on trees outside of a pawn shop where Hick is about to sell his last possession, his wedding ring, Hick gets the bad idea to steal the man’s the car. Unable to get far in it, the owner catches up to Hick and the two exchange blows. The film switches to color the moment the owner touches Hick, in an almost Wizard of Oz fashion, as Hick enters the seedy world of Vince Campbell (Dead Dicks’ Heston Horwin).
Turns out Vince is not the persona he presents on the phone. That BS notion about money growing on trees is all a part of a large con, where Vince puts on the hedge fund bro act to dupe people into giving him their hard-earned cash. Meeting Hick gives Vince the bright idea to pull a fast one on his uncle (Bomb City’s Logan Huffman), convincing Hick to boost a car that his Uncle Boots is supposed to bring to his kingpin grandfather (The River Wild’s Kiel Kennedy) in Albuquerque, undercutting Boots’ hundred-thousand-dollar payday from under his nose, and providing a ride and half the payday to Hick in the process.
What makes The Misadventures of Vince and Hick work is it’s strongly written opposing characters. Like the Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison of criminals, this Odd Couple contains one rowdy troublemaker and one ex-con trying to keep a low profile. Vince is the type to approach a situation looking for a fight, while Hick attempts a more nuanced comprehension of things. This affords some hilarious moments of back-and-forth dialogue during comedic situations as the two escape from poolhall hustlers (Tracker’s Fiona Rene and Young Rock’s Joseph Lee Anderson), an animated auctioneer (Copshop’s Chris Kleckner), and a biker (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’ Austin Rising) in a mad dash clusterf*ck of a crime spree. Who knew one car could cause so much trouble?
Much of the film relies heavily on these young, relatively unknown actors, who share fantastic chemistry and exhibit great instincts. Horwin’s freewheeling con-artist act, compared against Cargil’s no-nonsense schtick, draws the audience into this sunburnt underbelly of societal dregs and lawless villains. The two feel inseparable from a buddy-comedy standpoint even if, from at least Hick’s perspective, it’s met with a Midnight Run sense of contentiousness.
Madcap heists, road trip chases, and ensemble movies, such as The Misadventures of Vince and Hick, seem to be on a downturn over the last few years, whereas in the late ‘90s and ’00s, these films were everywhere, thanks to movies like the Ocean’s Trilogy and Fargo. 2023’s The Last Stop in Yuma County and 2022’s Vengence, which is more of a noir cousin cusping on the Venn diagram, are among the most memorable recent releases. However, this is a very difficult subgenre to write in, as you need to seamlessly integrate character backstory into an ongoing plot without letting the film become unwieldy and lose its direction.
With all the interlocking characters intentionally complicating the story, you need to rely on superb talent, a unique style, and off-center behaviors, while crafting an adventurous unraveling, as the film constantly builds toward an explosive climax that ties the whole thing together. So, when you find something like The Misadventures of Vince and Hick, a film that checks all the boxes and exceeds all expectations of this process, you need to start telling people about it.
Writer and star Heston Horwin has clearly had many of these characters lingering in his head for a long time. The Misadventures of Vince and Hick began as a web series in 2021, when college friends Stevens, Cargill, and Horwin became determined to put something together during the pandemic. The idea was to create a modern Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but with its dialogue, musical choices, and brand of violence, it feels as if it has been filtered through the movies of Tarantino, Rodriguez, and the Coen Brothers. The result of which may lead this group into being just as prolifically referential as the aforementioned names.
From a behind-the-camera perspective, a great location helps make the cinematography look effortless, and the post-colorization provides a near-Technicolor feel of eye-popping vividness. Most effects are practical, and if there was anything that may not have been, I didn’t notice. The lighting looks great, but filming under the sun makes that relatively easy. The sound is critical in the action sequences, and the film’s music perpetuates its mood and tone, providing us with a wonderous experience as we strap in for Vince and Hick’s trek to New Mexico.
If you like any films from the filmmakers I mentioned before, you’re going to have a new modern favorite on your hands. The Misadventures of Vince and Hick is yet another highlight from a festival bursting at the seams with fantastic movies. There is little doubt in my mind that Stevens’ film won’t be picked up for distribution. I only hope this one gets a big-screen release, as it includes all the elements that make us love going to the movies in the first place. It’s exciting, action-packed, and ferociously funny, a trifecta worth betting on just like the team of Cargill, Horwin, and Stevens.
The Misadventures of Vince and Hick held its World Premiere on June 20 at the Chattanooga Film Festival. The film is currently touring the festival circuit.
