Going Nomad

Art Jones
USA, 1998, 97 mins.

Producer/Screenwriter: Art Jones
Director of Photography: John Inwood
Editor: James Cozza
Principal cast: Damian Young, Gregory Wolfe, Mason Pettit, Jamie C. Ward, Tom Oppenheim, Jourdan Zayies, Graciela Lecube, Victor Argo.

Surfing a singular zeitgeist, Art Jones mines that distinctly New York trend, the "Asphalt Nomad" movement - nocturnal navigators "in search of the perfect ride" on Manhattan's 500 miles of blacktop-in his ingratiating meditation on adventure, love, urban philosophy and, of course, iron steeds with names like LeSabre, Grand Marquis, and LTD. Pensive would-be legend El Cid Rivera (Damian Young), a lifelong city boy whose pals are so petrified of change they can't switch chairs at the local tavern, is shaken out of his torpor by local cop Geraldine Fusco (Jourdan Zayles), an inspired comic creation who Mirandizes as foreplay but decides to - gasp! - leave Manhattan and be a Texas Ranger. "It's not a movie but a movement," says Jones of his romantic, hilariously deadpan urban odyssey. - Eddie Cockrell