There were many attempts to get Ms. Tree on the screen. Most are failed efforts, but one movie did get made from a Ms. Tree short story titled "Inconvenience Store" about a hostage situation the still very pregnant Michael Tree finds herself in when she wants a late-night snack of sardines. This offbeat movie gives us a story which runs in real time, hence the title.
The story was originally published in the 1994 anthology Deadly Allies II and most recently reprinted in the 2019 debut volume from Hard Case Crime's Ms. Tree One Mean Mother. That's where I first learned of it and the movie the resulted from it. Back then my attempts to find a copy of the movie did not succeed until a few weeks ago when I did find it and despite a slightly stiff price, I gritted my teeth and bought it.
This is a Troma film titled Real Time - Seige at Lucas Street Market, directed by Collins himself and starring Brinke Stevens, at the time a somewhat famous scream queen. She gets to play the "Ms.Tree" role in the movie.
Collins did not want to tie up his Ms. Tree concept in the movie, so he changed the name of our kick-ass protagonist to "Janet", and she is an actual cop, though that detail is like most of the rest of the movie only suggested by dialogue. The story plays out pretty much as does the short story with many lines crossing over. There are some additional characters to add a few more complexities and stretch out the running time which is still very short.
This very low budget movie follows in the tradition of The Blair Witch Project and gives us pretty only information which can be seen through security cameras. News cameras are added to this mix and there is a little bit of cheating here and there at key moments. But Collins stays pretty much true to his concept. The movie was made around the turn of the century in Des Moines Iowa. The market was not real, but it was constructed in an empty building. The movie was shot in chronological order for the most part with some notable exceptions.
My biggest gripe with the movie is the sound. Not only does Collins limit our visual information by keeping the actors far away, the audience has to listen very carefully to catch the dialogue. Sadly, Stevens has a somewhat deep voice. and I could only guess at what she was saying. Since they were mostly lines from the story, I could figure it out. I'm not dunking on the movie by any means, but it is part of the texture of the movie.
My DVD copy came with three commentaries and a weird feature which allows you to switch angles at times while the show is running. This is a fascinating way to watch and there is information you notice that the primary version doesn't show. There are other great features such as an audio book version of the original short story (which I listened to just before watching -- recommended) and the usual gaggle of outtakes and info. There's even a scanned Ms. Tree comic included.
This one is a bit steep but if you are interested in a bit of fascinating noir by one of the most successful crime writers dipping his toe in the movie genre it's worth it. Collins also does much is not most of the music.
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