Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (2020)

Directed by: Bill Ross, Turner Ross | 98 minutes | drama, documentary | Starring: Peter Elwell, Michael Martin, Shay Walker

The Roaring 20s is a fictional Las Vegas bar, where its diverse clientele like to chat, flirt, dance, grumble or, perhaps the common denominator, wash away the previous day’s hangover. On the last day the beloved bar is open, the regulars gather one last time to say goodbye and make plans for what to do next as the regular price disappears. Filmmakers and brothers Bill and Turner Ross picked up their cameras and started filming.

But wait… the word ‘fictional’ in the opening sentence of this review is important. ‘Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets’ is not a documentary, but a constructed film that feels very much like a documentary. The cafe-goers have all been asked to participate in the project, based on the scenario the Ross brothers wrote: the last day of a cafe. Within the framework of this scenario, the actors (most without acting experience, by the way) were allowed to do their thing.

Although the guests are the heart of this beautiful, deeply human film, the location is almost as important. The dim lighting, the texts on the wall, the worn-out benches: everything breathes life and history. Here people have shared joys and sorrows, relationships have blossomed and extinguished, dreams have begun and fallen apart. The Roaring 20s is not actually in Las Vegas, but in New Orleans, where the Ross brothers themselves live (the bar is actually called differently). However, that doesn’t make any difference to the feeling.

Some of those relationships and dreams from the previous paragraph take shape in the conversations we are allowed to observe. And thus the directors prove their real talent. It’s fantastic to follow the conversations; whether it’s deep, outspoken musings about missed opportunities and wasted lives or the empty promises people make to each other to visit each other when the common meeting point – the bar – has closed its doors forever (“You must give me your number! ” – “We have each other on Facebook, right?”). Those touching moments are indeed authentic. We are with these people at this point in their lives.

In addition, the diversity of the bar guests is a strong point: you not only see unkempt homeless and gray faces, but also people in their twenties, who for whatever reason have decided that this bar is their refuge. Not much happens in “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets,” but like your average “Seinfeld” episode that’s about nothing, that so-called nothing is insanely fascinating. It leaves you with a feeling of emotion, sadness, melancholy and warmth. Hooray for these kinds of drinking establishments and hooray for Bill and Turner Ross.