Film Review: Survival Skills

I’m always on the lookout for unusual films, and they don’t come much odder than Quinn Armstrong’s comedy/drama “Survival Skills.”

Presented as a recently-found ‘80s training video for new recruits to the imaginary Middletown Police Department, Stacy Keach narrates the black-and-white piece, which continues to degenerate in quality (with tracking lines and snow) as we watch.

We meet new recruit Jim Williams (Vayu O’Donnell), all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, who just wants to serve and protect his community. Jim meets his unimpressed partner Allison (Ericka Kreutz), who notes right off the bat that “I didn’t request you. In fact, I requested not-you.” But Jim is undaunted by this.

The tape is narrated by the Chief (Spencer Garrett), who is here to pass on the police protocol basics. Cops, he says, “are 89% white, make a median income of $70,000, and in 1980 they voted for Reagan.”

The lighthearted approach gets serious fast when Jim is confronted with a domestic violence case which, as the Chief notes, is “about the toughest call there is.”

Jim is serious about wanting to help, but will progressively find himself wading into deep water, where established procedures fail him and he finds himself unable to keep the emotional distance required. He begins to learn that his success will depend in no small part on an ability to see citizens more as objects than people.

This has been a strange year, and police have been in the news a lot, often in unflattering stories. Armstrong gathered much of his material from his work in domestic abuse shelters, where he saw similar conflicts between those needing help and those tasked with giving it.

“Survival Skills” is a cautionary tale worth seeing, amusing at times, sobering at others, its lessons well worth pondering.

 Opens on demand Dec. 4.