45365

Alternating between stunning fixed takes and quick you-are-there camera movements, Bill and Turner Ross’s portrait of their tiny Ohio hometown (the title is its zip code) weaves a hypnotic tapestry out of everyday banalities: barbershop conversations, parking-lot doughnuts, an argument over whether the Who’s “Squeeze Box” is about a dildo. Unlike Harmony Korine’s Gummo—another tale set in the Buckeye State’s backwoods—there aren’t any picturesque weirdos here, just ordinary folks going about their business; documenting a homecoming football match, 45365 covers the locker-room pep talk, then ignores the game itself. For the filmmakers, who wins or loses means little. The ongoing ritual of small-town American life is all.—Andrew Schenker

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