After a period of mourning and anger, a young woman reconciles
herself to her father’s death and the sale of her family’s home. That’s
the plot as a whole, but a few non-linear subplots arise as well, such
as the protagonist Mona’s mysterious temp work. Character, action,
scene and animation are collaged in The Toe Tactic, more an expanded
short than a feature. Consequently, concern for these characters and
engagement with a story is limited. The viewer’s too busy making the
connections, doing all the work. Your focus wanders from the various
animation techniques used to the voices (David Cross for one) to the
small roles (John Sayles) to the soundtrack by Yo La Tengo (drummer
Georgia Hubley is the filmmaker’s sister). Three previous shorts by
Emily Hubley are included here, including Octave (2006), which seems to
be the basis for this film.
This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2009.