The Deadbeat Club

I liked the title. But that’s as much as I can say for this listless indy about a group of teen outcasts in a small Texas town who put on a talent show to raise money for a man whose family has been killed in a fire. The ‘deadbeats’ themselves are never convincingly cast. The misfit ‘ugly’ girl is obviously older and prettier, hiding behind a Hollywood unibrow, odd wardrobe and glasses. Her best friend is far too old, awkwardly overweight and obviously propped up in her wheelchair for the film. The oversexed skank gal pal looks like a drag queen. The deaf boy isn’t – as revealed by the DVD extras. Only the gay best friend is convincingly cast (though still not a very good actor) possibly due to the fact that the character and actor where both ‘coming out’ at the same time (DVD extras again). Perhaps it was the fact that it was supposedly ‘based on a true story’ that kept the film makers tied to a one-note script but that doesn’t excuse the amateurish acting and the awful dialogue. The talent show itself is jaw-droppingly bad, a parade of oddities that even the most forgiving viewer would be put off by. The whole sordid affair is topped off by a cherubic tot singing “Jesus Loves Me”. How much squirming can one take?