Said it before and I will say it again. There is nothing wrong with the Indies, especially those expressing the vision of a single writer/director. They provide a place to improve skills, learn your craft, produce a better product. I have reviewed dozens of indies here and I expect to review a dozen more in the years ahead.
But, indie or not, the audience is entitled to certain minimum levels of plausibility and character building, which unfortunately is in short supply here.
Writer/Director Rob Diamond with hindsight may have stretched himself too thin. The core story is about a mother and son who escape an abusive relationship and go on the run with less than $200 in their pockets.
The mother is textbook perfect, think Amy Adams on a good day. (Well played by Emily Proctor).
The son (Lucky Blue Smith) looks like he escaped from the cover of Esquire (which I think he actually did) and suffers from a major medical problem. Which is aggravated by the fact that every school bully who meets him instantly wants to beat the snot out of him since he looks so damn good.
On the run, their vehicle dies but -- back to suspension of disbelief again -- the car mechanic that they cannot afford to pay even for the tow "takes them in" with free room and board.
Hold on, more disbelief to come. The mechanic, a widower, has a daughter who is psychologically scarred from a gun accident.
Now, if you did not know that, and walked into the film late, you would look at the girl (Christie Burke) and see a supermodel who never wears makeup and has what appears to be a cat scratch on her right cheek. But according to the script, she is a damsel in distress who finally finds true love and acceptance from the equally attractive boy who is now staying in her dad's trailer... see?
All these plot issues might have been solved by great writing, or great acting, or great directing. But the fact is that the entire film just sorts of floats by over its 90 minute length, milking these weak plot points for whatever they are worth.
Which, at the end of the day, is not a lot.
But, indie or not, the audience is entitled to certain minimum levels of plausibility and character building, which unfortunately is in short supply here.
Writer/Director Rob Diamond with hindsight may have stretched himself too thin. The core story is about a mother and son who escape an abusive relationship and go on the run with less than $200 in their pockets.
The mother is textbook perfect, think Amy Adams on a good day. (Well played by Emily Proctor).
The son (Lucky Blue Smith) looks like he escaped from the cover of Esquire (which I think he actually did) and suffers from a major medical problem. Which is aggravated by the fact that every school bully who meets him instantly wants to beat the snot out of him since he looks so damn good.
On the run, their vehicle dies but -- back to suspension of disbelief again -- the car mechanic that they cannot afford to pay even for the tow "takes them in" with free room and board.
Hold on, more disbelief to come. The mechanic, a widower, has a daughter who is psychologically scarred from a gun accident.
Now, if you did not know that, and walked into the film late, you would look at the girl (Christie Burke) and see a supermodel who never wears makeup and has what appears to be a cat scratch on her right cheek. But according to the script, she is a damsel in distress who finally finds true love and acceptance from the equally attractive boy who is now staying in her dad's trailer... see?
All these plot issues might have been solved by great writing, or great acting, or great directing. But the fact is that the entire film just sorts of floats by over its 90 minute length, milking these weak plot points for whatever they are worth.
Which, at the end of the day, is not a lot.