REWIND REVIEW: The Boxtrolls

MOVIE
The Boxtrolls

CAST
Isaac Hempstead-Wright,
Ben Kingsley

RATING
PG

RELEASE
September 26, 2014

DIRECTOR(S)
Graham Annable,
Anthony Stacchi

STUDIO(S)
Focus Features, LAIKA

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 37 minutes






STARS
***1/2








REVIEW:

After the successes of "Coraline" and "ParaNorman," it has been shown that Focus Features and LAIKA are forces to be reckoned with, and their latest project "The Boxtrolls" continues to prove that.  By not forcing in numerous pop culture references and instead giving us fascinating heroes and villains, directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi, along with screenwriters Irena Brignull and Adam Pava, have told a story that is both timeless and entertaining to watch.  The message about it being ok to be different is something that lots of kids these days need to hear considering all of the discrimination going on around the world.  The villains were too outlandish for my taste, and the film dragged on a little, but at the end of the day, "The Boxtrolls" is a well-made, funny, sweet, and pretty great family movie that kids will definitely enjoy and possibly even rewatch again and again.

REWIND REVIEW: Oculus

MOVIE
Oculus

CAST
Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites

RATING
R

RELEASE
April 11, 2014

DIRECTOR
Mike Flanagan

STUDIO
Relativity Media

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 44 minutes







STARS
***3/4








REVIEW:

Horror movies these days mostly rely on cheap jump scares and tons of gore as a means of providing "entertainment" to audiences, which is why I don't see that many of them.  I prefer mostly to see horror films that are as scary as they are intelligent in their execution, and "Oculus" is no exception here.  This film, being more of a psychological thriller than anything, tells the story of two siblings trying to overcome a possible supernatural being that lives inside an ancient mirror and had claimed the lives of many people over the past few centuries, including their parents.  What makes this film more interesting than other scary movies is that it plays with the heads of both the main protagonists and the audience watching it.

Is the mirror the cause of all of the insane antics going on in the house, or is it the minds of the characters playing with them?  At the end of the day, the movie never actually gives you a definitive answer to that question, adding to the eeriness of it all as a whole.  While the editing, particularly in the third act, is questionable, "Oculus" succeeds at being a chilling movie that showcases some great performances by the lead actors, as well as a showcase for writer/director Mike Flanagan.  This is the type of horror film that I believe should be shown by Psychology teachers.  Give Psych students a double feature of this and "Inception," and they will have one hell of a time thinking about them both.

MINI-REVIEW: Life Partners

MOVIE
Life Partners

STARS
Leighton Meester,
Gillian Jacobs

RATING
R

RELEASE
November 6, 2014 (VOD)
December 5, 2014 (LIMITED)

DIRECTOR
Susanna Fogel

STUDIO
Magnolia Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 33 minutes






STARS
***3/4








REVIEW:

When two people have great chemistry together, it's hard to see them fall away from each other due to differing life situations.  Take, for example, Leighton Meester and Gillian Jacobs' characters in the indie "Life Partners."  Meester and Jacobs are best friends who love to hang out with one another, despite their differing sexual preferences.  When Jacobs' character meets a man played by Adam Brody, their friendship soon begins to take a turn for the worst, and their relationship together soon fades into oblivion.  This was a movie that I watched without really expecting anything great from, and to my surprise, I found it to be funny, heartfelt, and compelling all-around. In addition to the great performances from Leighton Meester, Gillian Jacobs, and Adam Brody, this film also manages to be real and authentic in its presentation, as well as give us characters who all have some type of tragic flaw within them.  Sure, some of them might have gotten on the annoying side of the spectrum, plus the movie itself drags a little bit, but it's hard to deny how sweet and charming this is. "Life Partners" is little indie gem that I highly recommend you checking out!

REWIND REVIEW: Men, Women & Children

MOVIE
Men, Women & Children

CAST
Ansel Elgort, Kaitlyn Dever

RATING
R

RELEASE
October 1, 2014

DIRECTOR
Jason Reitman

STUDIO
Paramount Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours






STARS
**1/4








REVIEW:

It was only a matter of time before someone, with that someone in this case being "Juno" director Jason Reitman, made a movie about how dangerously connected most of the population is in the world of texting and the internet.  Just last year the movie "Disconnect," a highly overlooked film if you ask me, tackled the same topic with much more grit and grace, if you ask me.  With "Men, Women & Children," the biggest complaint I have with it right off the bat is that it has too much going on in it.  There are several stories going on throughout the movie, with some rarely ever connecting with one another in the way it seems Reitman does.  I mean, seriously, why there was a recurring narration by Emma Thompson about a spacecraft baffles me.

The performances in the film, aside from a few, are actually really good.  The standouts of the movie are Ansel Elgort from "The Fault in Our Stars," Kaitlyn Dever from "Short Term 12," Dean Norris from "Breaking Bad," and notable funny-man Adam Sandler.  These actors are the only ones that save this from being a truly terrible film in my eyes.  Jennifer Garner just annoyed me here, but I blame that mostly on the how poorly-written and one dimensional her character is made out to be.  The script by Reitman and Erin Cressida Wilson seemed like it was trying to cram so much in that in the end, everything just felt bloated, forced, and even unintentionally hilarious.  Seriously, some of the lines here are so awful that they're practically funny.

Had this movie featured about two or three of the narratives rather than the five or six present here, then I think the story would have been more tightly structured.  However, if Reitman wanted so bad as to keep all of the stories of practically ever single character in tact, I personally would have expanded the script and improved on the character development and made it a mini-series on HBO or something.  "Men, Women & Children" had the potential to be a great movie, but the sad outcome of it all is that this is a two hour drama filled with some great performances, some bad performances, too many stories and characters, and some lines that are actually pretty hilarious considering how they're supposed to be taken so seriously.

REWIND REVIEW: The Raid 2

MOVIE
The Raid 2

CAST
Iko Uwais, Arifin Putra

RATING
R

RELEASE
March 28, 2014

DIRECTOR
Gareth Evans

STUDIO
Sony Pictures Classics

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 30 minutes






STARS
***1/2








REVIEW:

Two years after the action genre produced a worthy film in the form of "The Raid: Redemption," director Gareth Evans and star Iko Uwais return to continue the story with "The Raid 2."  This sequel picks up right where the first one ended and sees our protagonist Rama being recruited to go undercover and infiltrate an underground mob society in order to expose them of their crimes.  By raising the budget, increasing the amount of locations, and adding nearly an hour's worth of material compared to the first movie, Evans has made a bigger, crazier, and even cooler sequel to an already cool movie.  In terms of action, cinematography, and choreography, this sequel tops the original by a long shot.  Having said that, there were things that I enjoyed more in the predecessor than I did here.

I do feel like the first film had a stronger narrative and more interesting characters, but the action here is definitely better this time around.  Not to mention, there's this deaf girl here wielding two hammers as her weapons of choice who steals every single scene she's in.  Overall, "The Raid 2" has better martial arts choreography and action sequences, not to mention the acting is pretty solid, but the first movie had this sort of charm and intimacy in its one building setting that, in the end, I consider both films to be equal.  Definitely check both out if you're a fan of action movies, and I'd even recommend checking them out back to back.  It'd be a long day for sure, but it'd be a long day full of awesome fighting, gore, and fun.

REVIEW: Interstellar: The IMAX Experience

MOVIE
Interstellar

CAST
Matthew McCounaughey,
Anne Hathaway

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
November 5, 2014
(70mm IMAX)

DIRECTOR
Christopher Nolan

STUDIO(S)
Paramount Pictures,
Warner Bros. Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 45 minutes






STARS
****









REVIEW:

Last year, director Alfonso Cuaron took audiences into space with the 3D technical achievement "Gravity."  This year, "Inception" director Christopher Nolan has not only taken us into space in his new film "Interstellar," but into wormholes, distant galaxies, and different planets as well.  Along for the ride with the audience is Matthew McConaughey's Cooper, a farmer who has volunteered to travel into the vast abyss of space to find a new planet for the humans to live on in order to keep the human species alive.  For those who don't know, Nolan shot about an hour of this 165 minute movie with IMAX cameras, meaning that it would fill up the entire IMAX screen should people choose to see it in that format.  I personally waited over a month so I could have my first viewing of this film be on a 5 story high IMAX dome showing the film in 70mm IMAX film, the most ideal quality out there to see the film in.  Having seen a lot of movies this year, I will happily say that my experience with "Interstellar" is one of the more memorable ones I've had this year.  Not to mention, this is one of the best films of the year, period.

The first thing that I need to talk about is how original and intelligent the concept and the script are.  I've seen people complain about the script being poorly written and not making much sense, but that didn't apply to me here.  Aside from a couple of moments, I pretty much understood everything that was going on here.  This film wasn't meant to be a mind-bender ala "Inception," rather it was simply trying to capture the struggle that a group of humans face when they are given the task to save the human race.  And to think that it plays with your expectations and manages to play with your emotions at the same time is also something pretty rare and cool to find in a big Hollywood film like this.  So for that, I give props to both Christopher and Jonathan Nolan for thinking outside the box and, for the most part, writing an original, intelligent, and even realistic space thriller.

Christopher Nolan's direction has never been stronger, in my personal opinion.  From the intense and spectacular scenes taking place on different planets and within some mind-blowing visual effects to the intimate and emotional scenes both on Earth and within the confines of a spaceship, Nolan knows how to bring the best performances out of his actors and tell a story that is well-told and really fascinating.  I loved Nolan's use of IMAX footage here, as seeing this on a 5-story high, 70 feet wide dome really added to my experience personally.  There are some sequences shot with IMAX cameras, done by cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, that honestly made my jaw drop in amazement.  Even if you don't like the film as a whole, it's hard to deny how amazing the film looks with its visuals.  In fact, another impressive thing done in this film is that there are a decent amount of effects done practically, with only the necessary effects done digitally.  The visuals in this movie were like that extra icing on the cake to the impressive narrative and great acting present thanks to Nolan's direction.

I am one of those people who thinks that Matthew McConaughey didn't deserve his Oscar win for "Dallas Buyers Club" earlier in the year.  In fact, I believe that Leonardo DiCaprio should have won for "The Wolf of Wall Street."  Having said that, I'm pretty surprised that McConaughey isn't in the talks for a Best Actor nomination at the 2015 Academy Awards.  Now to be fair, the Best Actor race is extremely crowded as it is, but McConaughey really packs a punch with some of his scenes, particularly one involving a video his daughter sends him during his space journey.  If the race wasn't as packed as it was, I would honestly be rooting for him to get a nomination for his performance here.  Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain are also great here, but again, the acting races are really crowded this year, so sadly it doesn't seem like they'll be in the talks for nominations.  These three, to me, delivered the best performances of the film, and in turn have given three of the most overlooked performances of 2014.

So as you might have seen already, "Interstellar" is not a movie that everyone will enjoy.  People have complained about its run time, the script, and other things of that sort.  Me personally, I have absolutely nothing to complain about.  As a film experience, this is a jaw-droppingly unbelievable achievement in cinema.  It's one of those movies that needs to be seen on the largest screen available in order to have the best experience possible.  Even if you're not able to see this on the big screen, I still feel that the performances, visuals, and emotional punch are enough to enjoy the film as a whole.  This is one of those movies that just reminds me on how amazing, original, and ambitious movies can be if directors and writers chose to do things outside of sequels, reboots, and adaptations all of the time.  I'm not saying that those types of films are bad, as some of my favorite movies this year have been sequels and adaptations, but sometimes it's nice to have an original concept unfold itself for the first time on screen.  "Interstellar" is an ambitious, emotional, visually outstanding, and overall amazing movie that I highly recommend checking out before the year is up.

REVIEW: Foxcatcher

MOVIE
Foxcatcher

CAST
Steve Carell, Channing Tatum

RATING
R

RELEASE
November 14, 2014 (NY/LA)
November 21, 2014 (Expands)

DIRECTOR
Bennett Miller

STUDIO
Sony Pictures Classics

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 14 minutes






STARS
***3/4









REVIEW:

I take it that when you see the names Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, and Mark Ruffalo all associated with the same movie, the first thought that comes to your mind is "that's gonna be funny."  Well in case you haven't even heard of their latest film or the true story behind it, "Foxcatcher" is anything BUT a comedy.  Believe it or not, this is a film, based on the real life murder of Dave Schultz at the hands of millionaire John du Pont, that is meant to be taken seriously.  And aside from the crinkling of popcorn bags and the occasional cough from an audience member, I could practically hear pins drop due to everyone being so captivated by the intensity this film brought in its quiet nature.  Director Bennett Miller is no stranger to films that tell tales based on real life people, as his last two films "Capote" and "Moneyball" all hit it big during their awards seasons.  The same should be expected with this one, as "Foxcatcher" is a brilliant look into the lives of a millionaire slowly driven to insanity and the brothers who are in the passenger's side of the insanity the whole way through.

Without a question, my favorite performance in the film belonged to Steve Carell.  While Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo were great here and deserve all of the praise they've received thus far, Carell just blows them out of the park mainly due to how much he loses himself in the role of John du Pont.  Rather than being loud and hilarious as he usually is, Carell is quiet and a low talker, which makes him all the more menacing and terrifying along with the fantastic prosthetics he's wearing.  When du Pont gets angry at someone like Mark Schultz in the film, he doesn't yell or have a temper tantrum, which just adds to the character's eerie nature.  Not only is this performance a favorite of mine in regards to Carell's already great career, but this is also one of my personal favorite performances of the year.

Bennett Miller's direction here, while slow, is calculated and really well orchestrated. The screenplay by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman allows for the audience to see the breakdown of a friendship between du Pont and the Schultz brothers, thus adding to the constant tension present in the movie.  These three men allow their visions to mesh so well that it's almost as if we the audience are watching a documentary on the characters in the movie.  The musical score also keeps an eerie vibe alive during the movie as it's barely noticeable and not as extravagant as other scores have been this year.  The one complaint that I have with the film is that when it's slow, it's pretty damn slow.  However, considering how great everything else is in the film, that didn't really bother me as much as it may bother others.

Nothing in "Foxcatcher" is meant to be light-hearted or serve as some type of relief from everything else going on.  From the first scene on, we are on a two hour journey of shock and dread that is both unpredictable and jaw-dropping if you don't know the true story that this film is based on.  The performances are amazing here, the script and direction are well-calculated and great, and the film as a whole feels authentic and makes each of the characters both despicable and empathetic at the same time.  This movie is not meant to put people in a good mood, rather its purpose is to tell a shockingly true story and to showcase the range that the actors, who usually are on the comedic spectrum of things, have here.  "Foxcatcher," thanks to its intensity and slow burning nature, is a film that leaves a lasting impact on the audience long after the credits roll.




PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Danny Collins

Selma

Blackhat

Unbroken

Big Eyes

Mr. Turner

MINI-REVIEW: Laggies

MOVIE
Laggies

CAST
Keira Knightley,
Chloë Grace Moretz

RATING
R

RELEASE
October 24, 2014 (NY/LA)

DIRECTOR
Lynn Shelton

STUDIO
A24

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 40 minutes






STARS
***1/4







REVIEW:

Being in my senior year of high school currently, I always wonder how my life is going to be ten years from now when I'm trying to get my life on track.  Hopefully, I won't be in the situation that Keira Knightley's character in "Laggies" is in.  Knightley's character, Megan, is a twenty-something woman who hasn't done much to improve or enhance her life in anyway from her high school self.  She still lives with her high school boyfriend, and her current job involves flipping a marketing sign outside of her father's office.  Megan sees that her life isn't the way she wants it to be, so she escapes her adult life and ends up befriending/staying with a 16 year old girl named Annika and her father Craig.  What follows from there is a predictable and flawed, but well-acted and sweet movie that gets the job done and overall acts in the way that "comfort food" does.

Keira Knightley, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Kaitlyn Dever all deliver delightful, humorous, and even real performances that help to carry the film's rather typical flare.  The movie itself is predictable and features characters, those in particular played by actors such as Mark Webber and Ellie Kemper, that aren't the least bit interesting and, frankly, aren't written that well.  The ending also felt a little abrupt if you ask me, but that's only a minor nitpick I have compared to everything else.  Overall, there was more here that I liked than disliked, so in that regard I'm glad I got to see it. "Laggies" won't change your life in anyway, but it most likely will make you feel good and give you a nice time while watching a film.




PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Inherent Vice

Big Eyes

A Most Violent Year

While We're Young

MINI-REVIEW: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

MOVIE
The Hunger Games:
Mockingjay Part 1

CAST
Jennifer Lawrence,
Josh Hutcherson

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
November 21, 2014

DIRECTOR
Francis Lawrence

STUDIO
Lionsgate

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 3 minutes






STARS
****








REVIEW:

After a really good introduction to a series and an even better follow-up, I think it's pretty safe to say that "The Hunger Games" series is as good as it is faithful to the source material.  Needless to say, after "Catching Fire" came out last year I was immediately excited for "Mockingjay."  Then again, I was already excited for it having read all three of the books written so well by Suzanne Collins.  I also happen to enjoy final installments when they're split into two films, a prime example being "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1."  There have been a decent amount of people complaining about how this film merely was just here to set up for the action-packed adventure that "Mockingjay Part 2" is going to be.  Honestly speaking, that's exactly what I was expecting from this movie.  And being the fan of "Mockingjay" that I am, I can happily say that "Part 1" is a satisfying and accurate portrayal of what I believe is a satisfying conclusion for this series.

Jennifer Lawrence keeps on impressing with every movie she's in, and her performance here is no exception.  The same goes for other cast members such as Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, and Liam Hemsworth, who all bring their A-game here.  Julianne Moore is great as President Coin, Donald Sutherland is menacing as ever as President Snow, and it's great to see that the late and great Phillip Seymour Hoffman's talents weren't wasted here.  Looking back on the film as a whole, I have absolutely nothing wrong with it.  The action was well-paced and intense, the political aspect of this impending war between the Capital and District 13 is extremely engaging, and overall the movie is just fantastic.  Some may be turned off at this being "the appetizer before the main course," so to speak, but for me this was a great set up to an even heavier and more emotional finale to a series that I've begun to respect more and more after each film.  At the end of the day, I think "Mockingjay Part 1" isn't just a great sequel and great buildup to a sure to be spectacular conclusion, but I just think it's a great movie in general.

REWIND REVIEW: A Merry Friggin' Christmas

MOVIE
A Merry Friggin' Christmas

CAST
Joel McHale, Robin Williams

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
November 7, 2014

DIRECTOR
Tristram Shapeero

STUDIO
Entertainment One

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 22 minutes






STARS
**







REVIEW:

Alright, before you go any further into this, I want you to take a look at the cast listed on the poster.  Ok, since I'm assuming you looked, isn't that a great cast?  I mean, you have Joel McHale from "Community," Clark Duke from "Hot Tub Time Machine," and the late Robin Williams along with many other talented people present here!  Alright, with a cast as great as that, you would think that the film they're all in would be up to the comedic and talented chops that each one of the ensemble members has, right?  Well unfortunately, you're wrong today.  "A Merry Friggin' Christmas" tells the tale of a man's quest to keep the Christmas spirit alive for his kids after his father failed to do so when he was a kid.  What ensues from there on is 82 minutes of hijinks and craziness that is supposed to expel laughs from the audiences' system.  As someone who isn't necessarily a fan of Christmas movies, I wasn't necessarily expecting anything extraordinary.  However, considering that this was one of Robin Williams' last films, I was hoping for some type of film that would do his career justice and give him a decent send off from the world of film.  What is presented here is a movie that, while harmless, is uninventive, uninteresting, and just stupid overall.

Sure Williams is giving his all here and does a fine job as the grumpy father to Joel McHale's character, but in the end this is just 82 minutes of stuff happening that I, for one, couldn't have cared less about.  Had this film stuck to a focused storyline, maybe delved into the characters' past a little, and put something of an R-rated edge to the jokes and the script, then I honestly think the film could have worked in the way that "Bad Santa" worked.  Unfortunately, this is just another Christmas movie that was made for a quick buck.  Even if you just want to see Robin Williams in a movie one more time, do yourself a favor and wait for the new "Night at the Museum" movie.  Sure it's probably not going to be that great, but I can bet that it will be more entertaining and smarter than this.  "A Merry Friggin' Christmas" is a holiday film that is forgettable, bland, and something that will dissolve into the abyss of other movies that aren't "Home Alone" or "A Christmas Story."

REVIEW: Big Hero 6

MOVIE
Big Hero 6

CAST
Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit

RATING
PG

RELEASE
November 7, 2014

DIRECTOR(S)
Don Hill, Chris Williams

STUDIO
Disney

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 42 minutes






STARS
****








REVIEW:

You know how one movie might be considered a "kids" movie and another might be considered a "family" movie?  Well, "Big Hero 6" is a full-fledged family film, and in the best ways imaginable.  With the parade of PG-13 superhero films coming out every year, it's nice to see Marvel let the heads of Disney tinker around with one of their properties while not going in to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  On the surface, this looks like any other superhero film, only it's animated and has a plush robot as one of its main characters.  However, looks can be deceiving, as many have already figured out first hand.  While this is a superhero film, "Big Hero 6" is a story about the bond between friends and the love a family has for one another.  It was these elements that made me fall head over heels for this latest Disney masterpiece.

The lead character, Hiro, is a someone we can all see ourselves in.  We all grow up being told that we can do anything we want to if we set our mind to it, but most of the time we manage to slack off and take the easier and sometimes more dangerous roads.  Hiro happens to be in the stage of his life where, despite having graduated high school at 13, doesn't want to put his gifted mind to the best of use.  I can admit that I am still in this type of phase in my life, though I'm trying to establish a better way to have the best of all worlds I happen to reside in at the moment.  Hiro is the type of character that people, especially teenagers, will look at and be like "I've been there."  Not only that, but the bond he has with his brother Tadashi is something that many will strike a chord with.

It's no surprise that Tadashi dies in the film, as this has been widely implied and advertised for a while now.  However, what makes this different than the many other Disney films where family members die is that we actually get to know and connect with the bond between Hiro and Tadashi.  We see how these two mesh with one another and how they influence each other in their motivations and their work.  With the film having a good 20-25 minutes worth of chemistry between the brothers, it made Tadashi's death all the more impactful not just for that moment, but also when it's brought back throughout as Hiro's motivation to form the superhero team.  It's the things like this that make me maintain faith in the power of movies these days.

Last year, Disney released another film about the love between siblings last year, the worldwide hit "Frozen."  I have since re-watched "Frozen" and, to be perfectly honest, I don't find it as great as many others have.  Sure it's a well made movie, and it's entertaining overall, but I just don't think it deserves to have been as much of a "cultural movement" as many have made it out to be.  But to each his own, the film pleased a lot of people out there, and there's nothing I could do to convince people that it's not as great as they're making it out to be; rather I'm only in charge of recommending what's good, or maybe even great, out now.  This film, to me, had the impact on me that "Frozen" unfortunately didn't.

"Big Hero 6" isn't just a great movie in terms of its comedy, storytelling, and empathetic characters, but I personally believe it's the most important movie to see this holiday season.  This is the type of film that has something for every family member going to see it, from children to teenagers to parents to even grandparents.  It's rare when a movie can be so entertaining and still convey an important message about family and the bond between siblings.  This is a sleek, funny, emotionally engaging, and overall wonderful animated flick that made me truly feel Disney's magic for the first time in a while.  And if Disney goes through with making a sequel to this film, as their end credits scene teased, then you can count on me being first in line to see it.  Even if the film doesn't impress you as much as it did for me, then I guarantee that the short preceding the film, "Feast," will at least put a smile on your face.  To be honest, though, I have a feeling it's going to be hard for people to resist the adorable nature of Baymax the robot in this film.  That character alone will keep people invested for the 102 minutes that "Big Hero 6" lasts.





PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Annie

Paddington

Hilsong: Let Hope Rise

Minions

Tomorrowland

Inside Out

REVIEW: Before I Disappear

MOVIE
Before I Disappear

CAST
Shawn Christensen,
Fatima Ptacek

RATING
NR

RELEASE
November 28, 2014

DIRECTOR
Shawn Christensen

STUDIO
IFC Films

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 38 minutes







STARS
***3/4








REVIEW:

In 2012, writer/director Shawn Christensen made a 20 minute short film entitled "Curfew," telling the story of Richie, a suicidal man given the opportunity by his desperate/estranged sister to take care of his niece Sophia for a few hours.  The short has been widely lauded by everyone who's seen it, myself included, and even went so far as to win the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short.  Christensen then took the short, along with its music and his young co-star Fatima Ptacek, and expanded it to a 98 minute feature film entitled "Before I Disappear," which actually won the Audience Award at the SXSW Film Festival earlier this year.  Some notable differences present include an expanded storyline that includes the main character Richie's personal life, as well as the casting additions of "Shameless's" Emmy Rossum and "Sons of Anarchy's" Ron Perlman.  To me, these additions actually enhanced the film as a whole into something deeper, more symbolic, and a lot more personal than the short it was based off of.

I give props to Christensen for being able to take this story and give it a dark and realistic edge to it, while at the same time going out for the strange and surreal quirks that the film has.  This felt like Christensen's version of "Garden State" in the sense that both films deal with things that feel very personal on screen as well as the surreal minds that the main characters of both films see the world with.  Christensen himself not only wrote and directed a well-made movie, but his performance as Richie was very impressive and pretty damn great.  While the last film he wrote, 2011's "Abduction," wasn't anything particularly great, I still found something rather personal in it, plus the concept of it all was original and clever.  It is clearly shown here that Christensen learned from his mistakes in "Abduction" and has made a movie that is sharper, more engaging, and overall a very good movie.

As great as Christensen's work on the film was, I still felt that his 11 year old co-star Fatima Ptacek stole the show.  She reminded me a lot of Ciara Bravo from the TV shows "Red Band Society" and "Big Time Rush" in a good way.  Both actresses have this quirky spunk to them that makes them not only adorable, but incredibly likable at the same time.  Ptacek's character in this movie, Sophia, compliments Christensen's Richie very well.  Both characters need each other, whether they realize it or not, and that makes their journey together all the more relatable.  The rest of the supporting cast, including Emmy Rossum, are all really good and serve their purpose to the story very well.  Having said that, though, it's the bond and chemistry between Christensen and Ptacek that drives the film home and makes it more than just a good film.

"Before I Disappear" is quite a remarkable directorial debut from Mr. Christensen.  Over the course of an hour and a half, we get a simplistic yet layered story, characters that all serve a purpose, and an overall message of living life despite the world around not always being so grand.  It's kind of funny to have this film come out the same year as Zach Braff's follow up to "Garden State," "Wish I Was Here."  Considering that "Wish I Was Here" wasn't as great as it could have been considering how incredible "Garden State" is, I guess you could consider this film to be that follow-up people had been looking for.  Is this a perfect film on all accounts?  I would say no to that.  However, the flaws I had with this film are minimal, and at the end of the day, "Before I Disappear" is emotional, touching, and overall a really great indie gem to come out in this insanely crowded year for movies.