Reviews

I wanted this film to be brilliant. My expectations were admittedly high as I went into it but I don't think it ever elevated to feeling like a "pretty good" movie, even. I'm not quite sure why it got so much acclaim because outside of some touching moments and some cleverly directed scenes, the film fell rather flat. I think if anything the editing was the most impressive part as it did cover a lot of ground and presented it in a very concise way. There were quite a few times where I felt a lot of information was conveyed in just a small moment or shot and that was one of the strengths of the film. The other strength was certainly the performances but the writing kept the film a bit bogged down as a typical coming-of-age story I would expect to see at a mid-grade film festival. Unfortunately the positive aspects of the film were not enough to save it and it's not a film I think I'd even want to see again.

I wanted to love this movie, it feels exactly like the type of movie in which that would happen. It started off so strongly and I was convinced that it would be one of my favorite films of the year. And then it just kind of died. The actors were all great and it is hard for me not to love anything Allison Janney is involved with. I just can't quite put my finger on what happened here.

Rosemarie DeWitt is a masseuse who is suddenly turned off by skin and physical contact and this creates a barrier with her job as well as her boyfriend. Josh Pais is her brother, a dentist who borders on being seemingly autistic and really has no joy or connection with anyone in the world, including his daughter (Ellen Page) who feels trapped working with her father at his office. Pais goes to see Allison Janney (a masseuse working with DeWitt) and is inspired to have connections of his own, but we never really see it come to fruition in any meaningful way that makes any sense. Which is how I felt about most of the situations in the film.

The parts with the father coming to Allison Janney for the first time and the great interaction and natural acting of the family all getting together for that first dinner were perfect. But then everything just kind of flattens out and people get worse and try various things to get better and some of it works and some is sort of unresolved and we never quite go beyond that.

I was quite surprised to find that this film was under 90 minutes because when it was nearly over, I found myself wondering just when it was going to end because it felt so long. There are voice-over and music montages where we see what the various characters are going through that just feel like they are twice as long as they should be. And those are the types of scenes I typically love so I really wish they had landed in this film. I think if I had cared more about the characters and they weren't just odd caricatures as the film went on, it would have maybe had more impact. The acting was all really great though and I loved the cast. They did well with what felt like half-baked characters and certainly elevated the film in that regard.

Things resolve themselves for the characters without any real feeling of why but I didn't depart with any real personal resolution from the audience standpoint.

I cried and cried during this film. It's a true story of two enemies of war and one uncharacteristically spends days saving the injured enemy soldier on the battleground. Although he survives, he becomes a POW and it's decades later that they are reunited in Canada. I imagine this will be a narrative feature film one day as the story is so powerful and unbelievable.

I caught this at the Vail Film Festival while watching random shorts and am not sure of the circumstances surrounding the making of it but it has the feel of an indie film as well as a studio production. The visual effects that are used to show scenes of war (as well as the dramatic recreations) are very poignant and heighten the intensity of the documentary footage of the two men speaking.

I feel the circumstances that bring these two back together in such a distant place decades later can only be attributed to destiny and serendipity. If you were to simply read this in a novel, you might think the plot line is too much of a stretch. The fact that it's true and we see them re-telling it all is just incredible. As of the time I am writing this, it is now available on Youtube and I highly encourage you to watch it. It is one of the most powerful stories I've ever heard.

This is the 2nd film with Blayne Weaver that I saw at the Vail Film Festival, the other being Weaver's own "Cut to the Chase" that he wrote/directed/acted in. In this one, he was just an actor and it was quite interesting to see him play a different type of role. He and one of the other main actors, Tate Hanyok, were terrific in their performance and absolutely sold their characters. The writing was so sharp and the deliveries were so natural that I probably could have watched a whole film of just these two, ala Before Sunrise. The film starts off a little slower and the long opening scene covers some of the themes and starts the chain of events of running into different people and seeing their connections and how it causes their lives to change. About 3 scenes in, the film started to deviate from what I expected that it was going to be and by the time it got to a criminal story, it was shocking in all the right ways. It was one of the most powerful sequences in the entire film save for a heartbreaking and beautiful hospital scene. Another standout story is a wonderful scene of a teenage relationship that was so innocent and heartfelt that I could not stop grinning.

The acting was impressive for a low budget film and I often expect some lackluster performances mixed in with some gems but the many important speaking roles in this film were very well done. The most memorable were Weaver and Hanyok, the sister, the bearded guy from the crime scene, and the cop. Each of the characters in the film felt like individuals which is a testament to both the strong script and the performers themselves.

There is some very beautiful camera-work and movement at times and then other times it is a little basic where the camera is more static and lets the dialogue unfold for a lengthy period. I am not sure if some of that was due to budgetary reasons or a creative choice. I do think the lighting could have been more dynamic at times.

The music reminded me of the Garden State soundtrack in the way that it utilized a variety of songs perfectly in the scenes and made me want to seek out a bunch of new bands I am not familiar with. I almost pulled my phone out to take shots of the songs in the end credits so I could look them up. The songs and score were a major highlight of the film and there are numerous moments where we are left with just the music and the visuals to really bring us closer to some of the characters and their situations.

This film is the exact reason I love coming to festivals and finding that one indie movie or two that touches me and surprises me and reminds me why I love films so much. I hope this film finds the wide release it deserves.

From the opening scene with Blayne Weaver (Actor/Director/Star) and Lance Henriksen, I was hooked. Both of them acted so well opposite one another and the dialogue was crisp and lighting was beautiful. The camera-work throughout was top notch for an indie film and looked lovely. The editing serviced the fight scenes and action well. Often times indie films do not quite get the camera angles or speed right with action scenes and it looks a little off. Weaver and his team did a great job with this aspect and the pacing of the entire film was very tight. Even the locations were very ripe with their own character. This is not normally a genre of film I am into as much but this one kept me intrigued throughout.

The story is pretty straightforward. Down on his luck Max Chase is out of jail and pulled right into a situation in which his sister is kidnapped and he has to go find her. This will not be an easy thing to do and somehow I do not think his parole officer would forgive the things he goes through in his attempts. Whether it was worth it and pays off, you will have to see.

I was not totally into a later twist but the film worked well enough that it did not overly bother me. All of the other actors did a great job and the two main females in the film (Cahill and Green) kicked ass! Green is currently tearing up the screen in Sleepy Hollow as well. I can picture any of these actors holding their own in bigger films and this film should help continue to propel them forward.

The great thing about this indie film is that it feels like it had a much higher budget than it did. Weaver talked about the film afterwards and with private investors and Kickstarter money, they were able to fund it and it looks 10x better than you would expect with the money they had. I love seeing indie films that just land with you and this is certainly one of them. It also makes me want to seek out other films by the director which is always a good sign. Keep an eye out for this one, I do imagine it will be widely available in the near future.

This was such a beautiful film and the amount of production value pulled off on such a low budget is stunning. I discovered this filmmaker through another great film entitled Ink and am pleased that the director is still doing amazing work. I don't want to spoil too much of this film so won't go into too many details but the two main characters don't know one another and connect in a very unusual way. Seeing how their stories progress with and without one another is very interesting and I couldn't wait to see what happened as it went on. The atmosphere of the film is unlike most films and the director has created an interesting and visual world for us to explore with these characters.

The actors are wonderful and the writing gives them room to really let us see that they are lonely and hurting. Helping that along is a beautiful score and I really felt affection for these two characters and wanted everything to work out for them.

As the film goes forward and we see more of what happens, we are absolutely pulled into these stories even more and I won't go into the specifics but it's where the film really shines in creativity and brings you imagery that I've never seen before. There are some things I didn't understand and am hoping repeat viewings will help clear them up. But it didn't take away from the overall film or the feelings I experienced while watching it. I look forward to another viewing.

This film was wonderful and touched on everything that is dear about an independent film: the characters, the visuals, the music, and the themes. It takes many chances that a typical Hollywood film wouldn't dare take. There are characters that are humanized that you wouldn't normally find humanity in. There are actions that would seem unforgivable but are then handled with such care and sincerity that you truly feel for what these characters are going through. The dysfunction in the early lives of a brother and sister don't ever go away and it's not until they are back together that they can finally find some peace and begin to discover how to break down the walls that they've built around themselves for decades. But it's not an easy road and these aren't problems that will go away over night. And the script doesn't allow them to find redemption easily, they must take hard looks at themselves and how they have brought ruin to certain aspects of their lives and can do so to others if they aren't more careful. The relationship between Hader and Wiig is so genuine and the fact that they are such great real-life friends really lends weight to the relationship and how they interact with one another. One scene in particular in a dental office really feels like they were allowed to let go with the comedy and it's a nice break from the tougher subject matter throughout. Both comedic actors are in very different acting territory here and hike through it perfectly as if it's all they've ever done.

The Duplass brothers have had a hand in many, many wonderful indie films and even when they aren't firing on all cylinders, they should still get so much credit for trying and really bringing indie films to life in a refreshing way. They didn't make this film but it's no surprise that they are the executive producers, it's right in their wheelhouse. Director (and co-writer) Johnson did a fantastic job with the film and it's surprisingly well put together for someone who appears to only have directed one other lesser-known film many years prior. The film is beautifully shot and the color throughout works extremely well. For a film that you can probably figure out how it will end up throughout, it's the journey that it takes you on and HOW those characters get there that matters. And that's where this film shines.