I expected something different from Buddy Boy, even from scene to scene. The premise reminded me of Bad Boy Bubby. A maladjusted man-child named Francis rarely leaves the filthy apartment shared by his smothering stepmother. She has a real psychological chain on him, which combined with an overpowering Catholic guilt makes for a lonely and conflicted existence. His only escape is through voyeurism, both at his photo lab job and by a hole in the fence outside his apartment’s fire escape. From there he can spy on a beautiful single woman across the street who never seems to close her blinds. One day Francis passes her on the street and foils a purse snatcher trying to mug her. His act of kindness makes her fall for him, and Francis becomes her regular dinner guest. Soon they even become lovers – it helps to look like a Baldwin brother if you’re a stuttering social misfit, I guess – but Francis feels more comfortable watching his new girlfriend in secrecy. And while watching her, Franics discovers some very strange and disturbing secrets of her own. The story takes a while to get going, and the more gripping elements seem too random or surreal. It tries hard to channel the paranoia and weirdness of movies like Rear Window, Eraserhead, Psycho, and Twin Falls Idaho, but doesn’t quite find a way to make it gel.

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