SXSW Review: ‘7 Chinese Brothers’ Starring Jason Schwartzman, Olympia Dukakis & TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe

Lest the title of “7 Chinese Brothers” inspire visions of the next ensemble crime drama from Johnnie To, the film in question is a quietly acerbic, absurdist oddity featuring Jason Schwartzman and his bulldog Arrow. The two are co-stars and compatriots driving around Austin, Texas in a filthy car having one-sided conversations while the rest of the world belittles and bypasses them both. This could change, but Schwartzman’s character Larry might need more than the film’s brisk 76-minute runtime to convince him of such a possibility.

Directing by Bob Byington (“Somebody Up There Likes Me”), the film is a symbiotic roll calls of the current independent film scene: Alex Karpovsky (“Girls”), Stephen Root, Jennifer Prediger and Alex Ross Perry all show up in supporting and cameo roles. In terms of tone, the picture shares the briefest of crossovers with Perry’s “Listen Up Philip,” casting Schwartzman in a role defined by selfish rage. It never reaches the heights of...