'The Evolution of Bert' review: a college-comedy in the same vein as 'School Daze' and 'Dear White People'

As someone on track to graduate college next month, I can confirm nostalgia, disillusionment, fear and sometimes acceptance are emotions on a never-ending brigade inside the mind. These are all translated—if sometimes messily—to the screen in Jeffrey C. Wray’s The Evolution of Bert.

A college comedy shot in Athens, OH and on its OU campus primarily around 1997, it tells the story of senior Bert Hightower (Randall Stokes) who struggles with the consequences of his job future, relationship woes and other dilemmas during his last semester of college. It owes a great deal to its influences, as comparisons to the early works of Spike Lee—distinctly School Daze and occasionally Do the Right Thing—are extremely noticeable throughout, and sometimes distract from the good-hearted intentions at hand.

That said, however, it’s a vibrant, blissfully entertaining film, which reiterates many talking points but has enough style and spirit to make it click. As this appears to be a student film of some sort or another, it’s hard to demote a number of inconsistencies and technical errors throughout, such as 180-degree rule breaks, editing hiccups and the occasionally uncomfortable actor and performance. This is not to give it a free pass, but to understand how The Evolution of Bert should not be compared to Lawrence of Arabia. It’s working on its own, string-strung terms, and what matters are the emotions and feelings of the moments more so than learning curves.

With that, Wray finds himself a surprisingly, and thankfully, committed and energetic lead in Stokes. He comes on the scene ready and prepared, fast-throwing his lines with affectionate ease and ready to play hardball when the time is right. It keeps the energy high and the volume in full blast, and this only compliments the quick editing and high spirits entailed from behind the camera throughout.

The camerawork, mostly handheld on what looks to be a 16mm Bolex camera—a device I got to play with just this past semester to less-than-successful results—has a flow and consistency which plays into the disgruntled unsettlement of our protagonist. Much like School Daze, The Evolution of Bert rarely holds any narrative consistency, but unlike Lee’s film this works more in this film’s favor. As the character is unsure of himself, so too is his film. His misdirection is fed into the film, and that, in turn, helps us to live out his confusion in a visceral way.

While not necessarily as successful as the similar minded Dear White People from last year, Wray’s sincere film has a heart and passion only some truly capture onto film. He clearly has an eye for use of shadows and lightning—all of which are highlighted by The Evolution of Bert’s black & white presentation. Additionally, his writing enraptures a racially political mindset, that’s still fun and engaging while communicating thoughtful social commentary.

That said, however, this film isn’t nearly as clever as it thinks it is, and its thematic grasp exceeds its reach. There are one or two too many ideas on its mind, and even at a slim 77 minutes, Wray’s feature seems a little too loose to come to a cohesive whole. It lacks a backbone to stand firmly on, and often wobbles between assertiveness and insecurity. No matter, there’s still a good deal of laughs and flair to keep things light. That’s ultimately enough to get The Evolution of Bert to fly by without too much turbulence.

It won’t change the face of cinema, but it’s hard to strain the convictions of this little time capsule of a college comedy. It’s got culture and fervor to spare, and there’s no discounting Wray for having some wiggle-room for creative impulses that are mostly not too overdone. For me, The Evolution of Bert is just one of those films which caught me in the right moment and the right time. While I can’t say it’ll stay with me, I can confirm the emotions it wishes to convey mostly ring true. And ultimately, that’s good enough.