Corporate snobs and dead-end jobs

Delivery Boy Chronicles, directed by Stacy Childers, is, at the very least, a fun and simple distraction.

The film has no big-name actors, which actually helps the story by making the characters seem more believable. The writer and director also seemed to recognize the ridiculousness of the film they were making and did a good job at not taking themselves too seriously. The end result is not terribly thought-provoking or moving, but it is entertaining.

The film centers on the lives of four twenty-somethings who are begging the question, “Is there life after college?” The characters spend their days working at a food delivery service that serves as the vehicle for most of the plot.

The characters are pretty simple, and each plays to familiar stereotypes. Mike (Ralph Price), the everyman trying to better himself, has been actively trying to make it in the real world for three years with a variety of wacky, but not quite practical, inventions (I’m still not sure what a clap-on beer hugger is). Tig (Shawn Mullins), the tough guy with a soft side, has been working at the delivery service the longest. He occasionally makes vague allusions to starting a career in photography, but has yet to take a picture. Molly (Kelly Hobbs), the idealist, is a passionate joiner who randomly takes up causes in a blind attempt to change the world. Finally there is Magoo (Chet Dixon), the weird guy, who is pretty much strange for the sake of being strange. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to his awkward behavior.

The plot meanders along with an expectable amount of predictability. The story arcs are simple, with problems appearing and solutions following almost immediately. There are, however, a few laugh-out-loud moments. For example, when Mike eats a mushroom that he found in a field full of vicious emus/ostriches and begins to hallucinate during an important job interview.

Unfortunately, the film tries to take on too much and concludes without sufficient resolution. This sense that much has been left out is validated when watching the deleted scenes, which reveal whole portions of character backstory that were cut from the final product. The multi-part montages used to setup the final scene leave the viewer confused and disoriented. This would be an unforgivable problem if the plot was particularly riveting, but most of the fun of Delivery Boy Chronicles comes from simply watching the antics of the various characters.

In the end, the questions that were asked in the beginning never get definite answers. Some problems are resolved while still others are created and left open, giving the conclusion a rushed feel.

Delivery Boy Chronicles may not be worth a purchase, but if you’re looking for something silly to laugh at, it’s worth a thought the next time you’re renting. It’s hard not to find something likeable in the anticipatory hope the characters have of finding something better in life than bong hits and bad job interviews.