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Monty's (Trevor Goddard) body is his temple. He works out all day and
night to stay in shape, eats only according to a strict diet plan, doesn't
drink alcohol or do drugs - and as a result, he's a perfect specimen of a
man ... on the outside at least, thing is, he looks down on those who take
less care of their body (which would include almost everybody), and lets
them feel he's above them. And especially his little brother Bertin (Rudi
Davis) suffers from that. You see, Monty has brought up Bertin from when
he was very little, as their mother has disappeared and their granny (Gwen
Van Dam) wasn't much use. So Bertin has heard since he's been young that
he's a lower creature compared to his brother, even though he has the IQ
of a genius and Monty isn't exactly one of the brightest and relies on
Bertin's intelligence more than a bit. But Monty figures as long as he's
righteous anough and doesn't sin against his own body, nothing can happen
- even if his understanding of righteousness and "sin" are based
on an at best rudimentary knowledge of the bible. But now that Bertin is
about to turn 18 and ponders about living on his own, and then Monty has
encounters with a gay man (Mitch Hara), a nun (Sally Kirkland) and a whore
(Michelle Zeitlin), and all of this leaves him very insecure and thus
vulnerable as it shatters everything he has believed in. And then there's
also this big secret in his past that Bertin has just uncovered which
Monty just has to be punished for ... Flexing with Monty
is most certainly a mindfuck of a movie - but in the best possible way:
It's a film unlike any you've ever seen before, inasmuch as it manages to
marry the mundane to the bizarre, to get the most proto-iconic images of
its scarce sets, and to make age old stage techniques (like an
over-reliance on inner monologue) seem fresh again. Plus, the way the
movie's titular and at first sight strictly formulaic character is
deconstructed throughout the film is a pure pleasure, mixing high drama
with biting satire, philosophic excursions with pure shocks and crude
jokes. In a way it is a movie that has to be seen to be believed - and is
thus totally worth a watch!
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