I recently saw this short at the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival - I took note of it because there was another AFI film there and the company I work for represents quite a few AFI alumni.
The thing I enjoyed about this film is that it didn't at all feel like a student film - it wasn't about flash or showing off; it was a simple story told in a very specific, mature fashion. It had a clear vision and was true to it from start to finish. I especially enjoyed the performance by Jack Wallace - he was very restrained, which made him all the more interesting - he has amazing eyes that told entire stories with only a look. I was also impressed by the photography - having seen countless shorts (especially from AFI) that go for style over substance, I was taken by the look of the film, which was photographed with great care and was very elegantly and naturally done. The editing, although leading to a movie that was perhaps too long and dragged at a few points, was also very supportive of the story - the editing of the film's climax was especially well done and really made for a strong ending.
My one critique is in the directing and writing - the movie feels like a knock-off of "About Schmidt", and lacks originality in my ways because of it. There are moments that feel very refined and sophisticated, but on the whole the movie feels 1 dimensional and a little heavy handed. I believe the concept (with more originality) would be more appropriate for a feature, but without a pacing that ebbs and flows, I believe it would be a very long movie. The music felt a little heavy as well, but I enjoyed that it was used so sparingly (another cue to bad shorts - they typically, though not always, use far too much music).
Overall I'd suggest seeing this if possible - while not the most original or best directed movie I've seen come out of AFI in the past 7 years, it's most certainly one of the stronger pieces as a whole and is impressive in its attempt to do something against the norm. I'd like very much to see what this group of filmmakers does in the coming years.
The thing I enjoyed about this film is that it didn't at all feel like a student film - it wasn't about flash or showing off; it was a simple story told in a very specific, mature fashion. It had a clear vision and was true to it from start to finish. I especially enjoyed the performance by Jack Wallace - he was very restrained, which made him all the more interesting - he has amazing eyes that told entire stories with only a look. I was also impressed by the photography - having seen countless shorts (especially from AFI) that go for style over substance, I was taken by the look of the film, which was photographed with great care and was very elegantly and naturally done. The editing, although leading to a movie that was perhaps too long and dragged at a few points, was also very supportive of the story - the editing of the film's climax was especially well done and really made for a strong ending.
My one critique is in the directing and writing - the movie feels like a knock-off of "About Schmidt", and lacks originality in my ways because of it. There are moments that feel very refined and sophisticated, but on the whole the movie feels 1 dimensional and a little heavy handed. I believe the concept (with more originality) would be more appropriate for a feature, but without a pacing that ebbs and flows, I believe it would be a very long movie. The music felt a little heavy as well, but I enjoyed that it was used so sparingly (another cue to bad shorts - they typically, though not always, use far too much music).
Overall I'd suggest seeing this if possible - while not the most original or best directed movie I've seen come out of AFI in the past 7 years, it's most certainly one of the stronger pieces as a whole and is impressive in its attempt to do something against the norm. I'd like very much to see what this group of filmmakers does in the coming years.
