‘From the Head’ Review

• Save

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a career as a bathroom attendant in the men’s bathroom of a Manhattan strip club? Well ponder no more as that’s exactly what is explored in George Griffith’s From the Head. While an entire movie contained in a men’s bathroom may sound unappealing, there’s a surprising amount of substance here, and it proves to be a solid debut from Griffith, who also writes and stars in the film.

Based on Griffith’s actual life, the story revolves around a bathroom attendant named Shoes as he provides advice, jokes, and soap to the various types of club patrons.  Taking place over the course of a 16-hour double shift, we witness Shoes begin to reflect on his own life as he helps everyone else with theirs.

Although it doesn’t glamorize the profession of bathroom attendant, it doesn’t make it look like a half bad gig.  In addition to the standard handing out soap and paper towels, Shoes has developed a way to maximize tips by going above and beyond simply standing there and giving out gum.  He interacts with the men who enter.  He lends an ear when they need someone to talk to and he gives advise when they ask.  He helps the married men hide the strip club evidence from their wives and doesn’t get phased when a belligerent drunk acts like an asshole.  It’s almost as if he’s a therapist who just happens to work out of a strip club men’s room.

This makes for a very interesting and entertaining film.  Though it’s slightly implausible that there would be this many different types of characters in one night, it’s clear that these are a collection of different stories Griffith has amassed over the years.  Because the majority of the film took place inside, or directly outside the bathroom, it was difficult to gauge how much time was passing by.  It seemed odd that the same person would be in the bathroom again five minutes later, however it wasn’t clear how much time had passed in the film.  Those are minor quibbles however, that don’t detract from the overall quality of the film.

One of the most interesting aspects of the film is the dynamic in which we get to know these characters.  When you go to a bar and need to use the restroom you get in and out as quickly as possible.  This is also the case for some of these characters as well, which means that we get just the smallest glimpse into their lives before they’re gone.  Later, they’ll come back, and we’ll get another tidbit about them.  As we get to know who these people are, Shoes is as well, and figuring out what to say or do to make them tip more.

There is definitely has a Clerks vibe to it, however in this case that’s not a bad thing.  What Clerks did well was take a mundane job and make it interesting by injecting great dialogue and unique characters. While the dialogue in From the Head isn’t at the level of something like Clerks, it is smart and funny, and the snappy delivery accentuates that even more.

This is an admirable debut from George Griffith and surprisingly fresh for taking place in a bathroom.  Setting an entire film in a location like this and relying on conversation alone to carry the running time is a very risky move, but fortunately in this case, it paid off.