‘Skin’ a Biting, Yet Tender Look at Lives of Three Male Hustlers

Everett Lewis’ “Skin & Bone” tells a story as old as Hollywood but he freshens it up with the same cool, detached manner that made his earlier take on L.A. alienation, “The Natural History of Parking Lots,” so memorable. Lewis’ view of his three male hustlers is both mordant and tender at the same time.

When we meet b. Wyatt’s Harry, he thinks he’s on the verge of putting prostitution behind him just as Alan Boyce’s Dean is about to start. Both are in the employ of Ghislaine (Nicole Dillenberg), who runs her call-boy service largely out of her convertible as she constantly prowls the streets, ostensibly looking for new employees. Hers is a high-end, anything-goes-as-long-as-you-can-afford-it kind of operation, which she conducts with a cell phone and the longest customer checklist you’ve ever seen. She wants to know precisely what the client wants and in turn wants to make it crystal clear as to what her rates will be.

Harry, who looks to be in his late 20s, is asked by Ghislaine to look after neophyte Dean, tells the boyish youth that what he’ll be doing has nothing to do with himself, that it’s just an acting exercise. Of course, Dean’s first job is so easy and lucrative that he thinks prostitution will be a breeze. The truth is to the contrary, for Ghislaine caters to the degrading and dangerously kinky.

Lewis has stated that “Skin & Bone” is “about giving your soul away and rationalizing the loss as a bonus,” and is a metaphor “for the experiences I suffered attempting to make a film at an evil film company.” It is in fact key to seeing the film as a metaphor for self-delusion, because in reality both Harry and Dean could make it as independent hustlers and not have to risk their lives all the time working for someone else.

The third hustler is Billy (Garret Scullin), a tall, thin, long-haired youth who has a fatal penchant for picking up the wrong guy, but Harry, who daydreams about a lovely girl, is decidedly the film’s central figure. He’s likable and earnest and Wyatt, who co-starred in “Natural History,” is very convincing in his portrayal. But Harry is crucially out of touch with himself, so much so that he’s actually shocked when confronted with the reality of the casting couch. Later he turns down a part in something called “Satanic Youth 4” even though he’s never acted in anything except a student production.

Even though “Skin & Bone” is extreme in its depiction of its characters’ seedy world, it is nonetheless compelling, for Lewis is a filmmaker of economical style and impassioned commitment. He’s drawn impressive performances from everyone in a substantial cast, except for Dillenberg, who is too callow for Ghislaine.

“Skin & Bone,” which benefits from Fernando Arguelles’ black-and-white camera work and apt music, is tremendously touching, sometimes funny but finally tragic.

* Unrated. Times guidelines: Language, kinky sex, nudity, adult themes.

‘Skin & Bone’

b. Wyatt: Harry

Alan Boyce: Dean

Nicole Dillenberg: Ghislaine

Garret Scullin: Billy

A Jour de Fe^te Films/Alliance release of a Film Research Unit production. Writer-director-editor Everett Lewis. Producers Claudia Lewis, Gardner Monks. Cinematographer Fernando Arguelles. Editor Andrew Morreale. Music Geoff Haba & Mark Jan Wlodarkiewicz. Songs by Pansy Division. Production designer Running time: 1 hour, 54 minutes.

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