Innovative, hilarious, and delightfully fantastical, Duke Ross’s The Ballad of Straw-Hat Sam is a mixed media film which experiments with 2D animated characters as well as real actors shot against live locations. The film follows Sam (Duke Ross) and Bucket (Victor Acosta), two new friends who decide to go on an adventure to find the world’s most exquisite bourbon, AKA “Angel’s Teat” made by “Toothy Timmy.” Sam has a map that promises to lead him on this journey, and Bucket is convinced that this journey will finally give him a story worth writing about. On the way, the friends face countless unexpected obstacles, each more absurd than the last, resulting in a whimsical and entertaining watch.
The film doesn’t take itself too seriously, which works for the lighthearted tone it carefully curates. The writing is quirky and pointedly abrupt, which works as we jump from subplot to subplot, each revealing a new dimension of this wacky world. The subplots are wildly imaginative and punchy, but lack a strong connection to the central storyline. This lack of cohesiveness results in a form more akin to sketch writing, with short entertaining nuggets carrying us through the larger narrative. A hint of a deeper theme emerges towards the end of the film, but the filmmaker brushes past this element quickly, thus skimming over an insight into these characters and how they have changed over the course of the film.
The underhanded way in which the incidents take place works hand in hand with the animation style, which is simplistic yet effective in engaging the audience. The doodles of the characters are animated at less than 24 frames per second, resulting in jerky movements that become part of the larger visual style of the film. The sporadic movements of their facial expressions naturally add pregnant pauses between the dialogues, resulting in awkward comedy at its finest. Watching these black and white drawings of characters interact over vibrant, real landscapes creates a unique visual experience. The sudden introduction of real actors, then, also adds to the abruptness that already permeates the film wonderfully.
What really seals the deal for the film is the voice acting. Acosta and Ross have great chemistry as the two leads, and their impeccable comedic timing elevates the film tremendously. The Ballad of Straw-Hat Sam embodies a brave sensibility in being unapologetically itself, not conforming to any rules, visually or on a script level, which makes it stand out amongst the clutter and shine as a unique piece of art.
