For Your Consideration - Best Laid Plans... Edition

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

This week's recommendations are all about people's life dreams and the way the world loves to flatly ignore them. World's Greatest Dad is the tale of an aspiring writer turned middle-aged school teacher/father of the worst kid on the planet, while Fifty Dead Men Walking chronicles an unambitious hoodlum's evolution into a spy. Yup - fair trades all around.

WORLD'S GREATEST DAD

What: The fourth feature film from comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, World's Greatest Dad is the tale of Lance Clayton, a doormat of a man whose dreams and aspirations have shrunken smaller than the attendance rate of his poetry class at the local high school. His only living family member is his perverted 16-year-old son who is more interested in watching people felch on the internet than socializing and, to make matters worse, Lance's 'girlfriend' doesn't want anyone to know they are even dating. His life is completely unbearable until a freak occurrence presents him with an ethically dubious path to salvation.

Where: NY - Landmark Sunshine Cinema; LA - Opens 8/28 at the Sunset 5, Playhouse 7, and the Landmark.

Why: World's Greatest Dad is a pitch black, comedic parable that isn't for everyone. While far from a perfect film, it's refreshing to see a director competently combine gross-out comedy with a genuine examination of some of the less talked about aspects of the human condition, especially after Funny People's try-hard, bloated, and ultimately unsuccessful attempt at the same thing. It also features what would be a career-reviving performance from Robin Williams if more than five people actually see it.

FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING

What: The latest feature from prolific, but relatively unsung, Canadian director Kari Skogland, Fifty Dead Men Walking, is a loose adaptation of the memoirs of Martin McGartland. Set in 1980s Northern Ireland, the film follows a local Belfast hood named Marty as he becomes an spy within the IRA at the behest of the British government. Naturally, his life becomes more and more imperiled the deeper and deeper he gets. The film's odd title comes from the real Marty McGartland's claim that his undercover work saved at least fifty lives.

Where: NY - Quad Cinema, AMC Empire 25; LA - Next Week

Why: Although on the surface it may appear to be just another traditional spy movie, early buzz is praising it for its moral complexity and the even-handed way that it portrays such a polarizing topic. Also, it's always nice to see Ben Kingsley take a break from his busy schedule of phoning in performances to every B movie being released these days and Jim Sturgess is receiving rave reviews for his wide-ranging performance that shows him sliding between cocksure swagger and immense vulnerability.

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