Joshua Burge in Buzzard (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

In the ’70’s, a drifter-grifter anti-hero had a sort of grimy cool, a counterculture awesomeness to aspire to. Major stars like Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman filled those shoes. Alas, we are in the age of diminished expectations, and we have little to offer our millennials, and the drifting and grifting has downsized as well.

Enter Marty Jackitansky, the nominal hero of Buzzard. He is thrilled to take off three hours from his temp job to close and reopen his checking account in order to take advantage of the banks “open a new checking account and get $50” promotion. Ah, how far the once exalted grifter archetype has fallen. A Mamet character would eat Jackitansky for breakfast. At one point, he tries to make things right with a friend by stating, “I’ll go home and give you my coupons.” My grandmother would be proud.

Not that director Joel Potrykus cuts his protagonist any slack (pun intended). There is nothing more that Marty would like to do than eat chips and play video games, particularly with the awesome, and eventually dangerous, controller/Freddy Krueger-style glove that he is compulsively perfecting. His only companion, Derek, is even lower on the food chain than Marty. Marty derisively calls him his “work friend” even after he crashes on Derek’s couch for a week. Derek calls his basement, which is actually his father’s, the Party Zone. Highlights include a toaster and a refrigerator full of Hot Pockets.

Marty is pretty much coasting along on his petty schemes: working at a temp job, listening to death metal, eating a Fritos pizza sandwich. Then he learns from his mom that he can sign a check over to himself by endorsing the back, even though it was written out to someone else. This leads him to his biggest scheme yet…small potatoes compared to the lowest of street hustlers, but still.

Potrykus displays a unique style. This is all finely tuned observation, with static shots of characters doing absurdly mundane things, yet everything is spun out with a distinctive, mordant humor. There’s sense of the absurd but everything is so strongly grounded. Potrykus will keep a static medium shot on Marty for, say, five minutes as he does nothing but eat a plate of spaghetti and meatballs, and somehow it is revealing and hilarious.

Joshua Burge, a wiry cross between Steve Buscemi and Adrien Brody, gives a sly turn as Marty. He poker faces his way through life, hiding his frustration and anger (a lot of anger) until one of his schemes fall through, which usually leads to offscreen cursing and banging of various objects. Marty displays characteristics of the film’s title, physical and otherwise. He is tall and gawky, selfish, prone to squawky outbursts, and generally not the most likeable dude you’ll meet. It’s to Burge’s credit that our sympathy is gained. Additionally, Potrykus is hilarious as Derek, the work friend. Prematurely balding and developmentally arrested, he can think of nothing better than to have a Bugle eating contest. That, to him, is high times.

Funny, distinctive, and ultimately very sad, Buzzard is a unique and satisfying viewing experience.