Neo Ned Synopsis:
Ned is the dismal product of a broken home: his dad a recidivist petty criminal, his white-trash mom a regular on Jerry Springer-type TV shows. Emotionally adrift, desperately looking for somewhere to belong, he joins a neo-Nazi group - and after taking part in a racist murder, finds himself confined to a mental institution. There, to his surprise, he meets the love of his life: Rachael, a young woman who happens to be (a) black and (b) possessed by the soul of Adolf Hitler ... or so she believes.
Neo Ned Movie Review:
“Neo Ned” tells the story of a neo-Nazi who falls in love with a black girl who believes herself to be the reincarnation of Hitler. I begin with this sentence only because it is not one you get the chance to type often. In truth, this synopsis, which you’ll find in every discussion of the movie, is reductive and sort of unfair. It certainly doesn’t hint at what the movie is, and achieves: it is intelligent, darkly funny and, most surprisingly of all, incredibly sweet.
The notion of a ‘sweet’ movie about a neo-Nazi might sound a tad obscene, but this is not a movie about neo-Nazis. Ned (Jeremy Renner), the central character, got into the Aryan Brotherhood due, more than anything, to his staggering level of ignorance; when we first see him, in a mental institute, he doesn't seem purposefully hurtful, and he is as much a figure of rebellious fun as Jack Nicholson was in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Immediately, we like this guy. He was put in the institute after being convicted of killing a man; he was born with an extra Y chromosome and has ADD and a list of other problems which is why he never ended up in prison. It is in the institute that he meets Rachael (Gabrielle Union), the girl who thinks she’s Hitler. Dr. Magnuson (played by Cary Elwes) is tired of Ned’s outbursts and unpredictability, and sincerely doubts that Rachael believes herself to be Hitler. We are unsure both about this and whether Ned ever really killed anyone until the characters begin to reveal themselves to each other.
At first the two are a little hostile; Ned is racist and mean and yet you sense that he is somehow being friendly beneath all that; perhaps he considers racism towards a black girl to be a form of playing hard-to-get. His childish ignorance makes him somehow endearing; you can see pretty quickly that, despite his stupid racial slurs, he is immediately smitten. They get out of the institute (not entirely legitimately) and become, against all odds, one of the most likeable, sweetest couples in the movies in recent memory. He begins to rethink his status as a neo-Nazi.
“Neo Ned” is the second movie from director Van Fischer, his first being a low-low-budget Slamdance entrant. The screenplay marks the writing debut of Tim Boughn. Their work is remarkable in the way, like a lot of good modern comedy (see: anything by Larry David), it neutralises controversial, potentially offensive issues and makes them seem everyday; this is no “American History X.” It takes for granted that racism is necessarily evil but that its practitioners aren’t, and effortlessly juggles pathos, comedy and, at times, despair. Observe Ned’s mother, Shelley (Sally Kirkland), who can’t find fault in Ned, although she was a bit distrustful of that neo-Nazi crowd he hung around with. She is a serial talk show guest; when Ned introduces Rachael to her she immediately shows her the video of her first appearance. The talk show scenes have an edge of satire to them and yet they aren’t just played for laughs; she takes them seriously, and they make her genuinely happy. Somehow, the laughs are directed more at the shows than at the mother.
Similarly complex is the relationship between Ned and Rachael. Sexual abuse in her past is hinted at and, like Ned’s past, revealed slowly through the movie. Not many movies can get away with blending components like these, but this movie never feels like it’s mixing disparate elements; it’s a sad story about a girl who thinks she’s Hitler, and a funny story about a neo-Nazi. I guess it can get away with it by giving us characters who are so damned likeable. Jeremy Renner and Gabrielle Union give excellent performances as characters for whom these issues and problems are just a fact of life. The movie does not preach or deliver any ‘message’ about racism. It doesn’t centre on child abuse or interracial relationships, but it contains these elements and treats them seriously. Roger Ebert has said that ‘a movie is not about what it is about; it is about how it is about it.’ By the end of the movie, I wasn’t thinking about the neo-Nazism and the Hitler thing; I was thinking of Gabrielle Union’s beautiful smile as she realises she has found a soul mate.
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Neo Ned review written by: Adam Whyte
13th October, 2008 
