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SLIFF 2009 Review: THE HEADLESS WOMAN

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Review originally posted on June 15th, 2009 during the CineVegas Film Festival.

I suppose every human being has had something in their lives to instill guilt, ranging greatly over a vast spectrum of severity. Such severity often determines the depth and duration of one’s guilt. Having stolen a piece of candy as a child would naturally be short-lived while causing another person permanent damage would likely weigh much heavier on that person’s conscience. Having been the cause of something to die is clearly amongst the worst guilt a person could endure. Imagine for a moment that you have taken a life, but to what or whom that life belonged you are not certain.

This is the experience the audience is engaged in with ‘The Headless Woman’ (La mujer sin cabeza). This Argentinian film was written and directed by Lucrecia Martel and stars Maria Onetta as Veronica, a middle-aged woman affectionately known to her family and friends as Vero. Driving home by herself, she hits something in the road. Vero believes she heard a dog yelp, but finds herself terribly frightened of what she might find if she were to return to the scene. Vero, clearly disturbed by what has happened, chooses to continue home rather than reveal the truth to herself.

The opening scenes of ‘The Headless Woman’ introduces the audience to Vero’s questionable psychological state of mind, but takes some time to reveal the underlying cause of her distress. We witness the accident very early on, but at first it seems to be the result of some deeper root cause for her mental state. At first, I found myself wondering if Vero was suffering some early onset stage of Alzheimer’s, but this misdirection eventually passed. Vero’s actions and her frequency to appear oblivious to the world and events around her present an interesting element of mystery to her character.

Vero is a member of a good-sized family of class who care for her, but mostly dismiss her concern and continually reinforce the insignificance of what occurred and attempt to prove it was merely a dog. For Vero, the experience is not that simple to cut herself loose of and finds she is alone in carrying this burden. She finds herself surrounded by children, constantly reminded of the possibility of what she might have done. Once Vero does finally break down and cry for the first time, she does so with a complete stranger.

One of the most intriguing aspects of ‘The Headless Woman’ is Martel’s use of space. The framing and staging of the film emphasizes Vero’s sense of uneasy solitude, forced to deal with the unknown reality of her own actions despite having people around her at all times. During her interactions with others, Vero rarely faces the others and stands removed from the action, but always remains in the foreground. This, combined with a masterful use of racked focus and Vero’s lack of eye contact with others, creates an effect of separating Vero from the rest of the world and allows us a front row seat to her inner conflict of emotions.

The concept of ‘The Headless Woman’ is great, taking something as philosophically complex as guilt and translating it visually on screen, but suffers from an otherwise tedious lack of substance outside of Vero’s mind. The film tends to get bogged down in it’s own pace and can become a bit draining at times. However, this is not entirely a fault to the overall effect the film is intended to have on the viewer. A turn of events is revealed in the final third of the film that presents the opportunity for interpretation of Vero’s feeling of guilt.

In the end, Vero dyes her hair from blonde to black, as if to reinvent herself in an attempt to start over and perhaps even redeem herself for what may have happened. Throughout the film, Vero shuffles between wearing two masks. One false mask of relative peace is for her family and friends while the other mask of sadness is her true face.’The Headless Woman’ is a study of the human psyche, a glimpse inside the rugged terrain of guilt and uncertainty that requires more than casual viewing, but isn’t mired in complicated plot devices.

THE HEADLESS WOMAN will screen at the Hi-Pointe on Sunday, November 22nd at 1:00pm during the 18th Annual Whitaker Saint Louis International Film Festival.

SLIFF 2009 Review: SNOW (Snijeg)

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Wow! Out of the films that I have viewed for the St. Louis International Film Festival, this was by far the most powerful. Snow (Snijeg) tells the story of the effects of war on a Bosnian  village. They are now  diminished  in numbers.  What was once a prosperous and happy village is now a dark and sad place. Women and orphans are all that remain. The only man is the elder of the town. Still, rather than dwell, their lives must continue, and they must go on with their daily lives and responsibilities.

The women of the town soon become torn as two business men travel to their area with the hopes of buying the land for development. Now they are forced to make a decision. They are faced with change and must decide what is best for them, if they are betraying their values, and overall make sense of everything. Does the village move on and ignore their tragic past, or do they confront their past and break their silence about the tragedy that was so unfairly bestowed upon them.

The script is subtle, yet powerful. The pain,  despair  and agony are felt through observation rather than being overly drawn out and pushed down the viewers throat. The film is also riddled with symbolism, but not overly saturated. There is a beautiful simplicity that makes this film powerful. I think this was also aided by not knowing any of the actors. Not recognizing any big stars aided to the characters feeling of realism, and contributed to the films strength and message.  I would highly recommend seeing ‘Snow’. Just be warned that this is not your normal, warm and fuzzy, feel good movie.

SNOW will screen at the Tivoli on Tuesday, November 17th at 6:30pm and on Wednesday, November 18th at 9:00pm during the 18th Annual Whitaker Saint Louis International Film Festival.

SLIFF 2009 Review: STOLEN LIVES

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Don’t let the overly qualified cast list fool you.  STOLEN LIVES is about eight commercial breaks short of being a movie of the week, not one, but two kidnapped child tales that intersect in highly sporadic and, overall, loose-fitting ways.  It feels like it’s moving fast, but it plods and plods until all the loose ends seem to magically tie themselves off and then, simply, end.

Jon Hamm and Josh Lucas star as two fathers in completely different eras.  Hamm plays a cop in the present day who is obsessed with his missing son.  He, along with his wife, played by Rhona Mitra, is the first on the scene when news hits him that a child’s body has been found buried underneath a construction site.  Upon taking the skeletal remains to a pathologist, he learns the child is not his son but, rather, that of a child who was murdered some 50 years before.  Cue the flashback score, as we jump back to Lucas’ character’s story.  He plays a newly single father in the 1950s who is trying to find work while caring for his mentally handicapped son.

Sadly, STOLEN LIVES seems to only have enough juice in either its story or its direction to cover one of these stories thoroughly and well.  The story covers the modern day narrative well, while the direction by Anders Anderson seems to have its head in the clouds of the ’50s.  Nothing comes together skillfully in the film, and the jumps back and forth add jarring to the list of this films characteristics.

At just 90 minutes, the pacing is all wrong.  There are moments where we are finally beginning to see a semblance of attention and focus on any, one aspect only to be quickly rushed back to the other storyline for no, clear reason.  STOLEN LIVES, perhaps, could have benefited from a little breathing room, some padding in each, respective story to not only flesh out some of the side characters these two fathers are contending with but to give us, the audience, a bit of time to sort out the stories in our own heads.

Not to say the film is convoluted.  Far from it.  If anything, it’s too simple, and it begins to feel like we are shown rather than told the segment from the ’50s just to keep this from being a short.  We know where the film is headed long before it gets there.  Any sense of surprise or thoughts of a genuine twist are quickly lost.  As if working against an already set run time, the film rushes through its ending revelations like a third grader trying to get through the last, few paragraphs of that week’s chapter.  It doesn’t hold on anything, blazes through even the most rudimentary of details, and, ultimately, leaves us far behind.  At this point, we don’t even care if we keep up.

The one element STOLEN LIVES has going for it in spades is in the performance of its cast.  Hamm and Lucas are, each, terrific in what they are given.  Mitra sits on the sidelines, but she even does that skillfully.  Even James Van Der Beek shows up to prove he can still hold his own.

Lost in the woods of its own devising, STOLEN LIVES tells two uninteresting stories in particularly uninteresting ways.  Anderson’s camera work is satisfactory, and the acting chops provide the only meat on this film’s bones.  Unfortunately, there is just far too much working against it.  In the end, the film amounts to very little, a forgettable gust of wind that believes itself to be a cyclone.  It talks big, but, aside from the acting, it doesn’t live up to its own hype.

STOLEN LIVES will screen at Plaza Frontenac on Saturday, November 14th at 7:15pm and on Sunday, November 15th at 7:00pm during the 18th Annual Whitaker Saint Louis International Film Festival.

SLIFF 2009 Review: DROOL

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Nancy Kissam succeeded in making an interesting, heart-warming yet dark film with the twisted ‘Drool’. Laura Harring plays Anora, a shy, beaten down wife who lives unhappily with her  husband Cheb (Oded Fehr), and their two children, Tabby and Little Pete (Ashley Duggan Smith and Christopher Newhouse). Tabby acts out both verbally and sexually, while Little Pete struggles with his own sexual identity. The two kids are brats acting out for attention based on their environment.

Anora survives her day to day by living inside of her own little fantasy world until the new neighbor moves in. Imogene Cochran (Jill Marie Jones) is a bright, loud mouthed cosmetics saleswoman who is new to town. She takes Anora as a friend, and soon a spark is lit between the two. Cheb comes home to the two of them sharing a moment, and goes for his gun. Now the new girlfriends, the bratty kids, and a bullet filled Cheb are on a cross country journey to get him out of their lives once and for all.

The cast is fantastic in this film. Harring and Jones light up the screen. It would be really hard not to like them. Smith plays a very convincing teen acting out for some attention and love. The teen scenes and themes might be hard for some to swallow, but I think that it is  necessary  to bring these issues to life. Teens today are much more free with their sexuality, and I applaud this movie for not dancing around it. At the same time, the director makes it very clear that the movie is still more of a comedy. Imogene is a prime example. Although caring and sweet, she is also a loud mouthed southern princess that won’t sugar coat anything. She has a bubbly personality that can change to stern and sassy if the claws need to come out. The film is also animated with the drawings of Tabby to illustrate certain stories. The notebook lined paper and sharpie imagery tend to lighten up the mood of the film as well.  The screen shots are really nice too. Between all of the bright colors, the kitschy sets, and the interesting sets compliment the story without completely overpowering it.

Although just under 70 minutes, the movie makes sure to grasp the viewers attention and still tell the tale without feeling rushed or incomplete. I highly recommend checking this one out!

DROOL will screen at the Frontenac on Monday, November 16th at 9:00pm and on Tuesday, November 17th at 9:15pm during the 18th Annual Whitaker Saint Louis International Film Festival.

SLIFF 2009 Review: THE ECLIPSE

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Ghosts stories are becoming a popular focal point for filmmakers again, experiencing what may turn out to be the early stages of a resurgence such as we’ve seen with vampire stories. The interesting thing about ghost stories however, is that there really are no set in stone rules by which to follow in regards to the lore. Simply put, ghost stories have virtually no boundaries and THE ECLIPSE certainly proves this point.

The story takes place in Ireland and follows a driver named Michael Farr (Ciarán Hinds) as he assists at a literary convention. Michael still mourns the unfortunate death of his wife while raising two children by himself. During the convention, Michael meets a visiting British novelist of ghost stories named Lena Morelle, played by Iben Hjejle (HIGH FIDELITY). The two quickly develop an intimate friendship as Michael also struggles with the feeling that he is being haunted by his not yet dead father-in-law’s ghost.

While Michael and Lena grow closer, Lena finds herself the subject of another man’s obsession. Aidan Quinn plays a best-selling novelist named Nicholas Holden, whom as a result of a previous one night stand with Lena, now seeks to seal the deal. Surprised by this, Lena attempts to make clear to Nicholas that she had no interest in pursuing a relationship with him and Michael inevitably is drawn into the drama.

THE ECLIPSE was written and directed by playwright Conor McPherson (THE WEIR, THE SEAFARER). While as a playwright McPherson is highly acclaimed, I fear his attempt at crossing over into film is less than successful, but does show potential with practice. McPherson clearly has a handle on dialogue and directing actors, an obvious talent carried over from theatre, but his vision as it relates to the image on screen, how to construct the frame and how the big picture should come together needs improvement.

I’ll be frank with potential audiences now. I really did not enjoy this film. Personally, I found the pace unnecessarily slow, the story was dull and I never truly connected with or felt empathy for any of the characters. There were far too many empty scenes, filled with silence that are meant to be creepy. Instead, these scenes fall flat and pull the viewer out of the moment. The haunting elements of this story are few and far between. The relevance of the ghost of Michael’s father-in-law is, so far as I can tell, a plot device to bring him closer to Lena, but ultimately just gets in the way.

The film feels, for the majority of it’s running time, about as exciting as the average Merchant Ivory film, but in the handful of scenes when ghost haunts Michael there is a disruptive shift in tone utilizing typical genre scare tactics, with the “ghost” bursting out of the darkness or through the floor boards grabbing at Michael’s ankles. Likewise, the make-up effects used are better suited for a zombie flick than for a ghost, especially in a film where the more traditional concept of A CHRISTMAS CAROL ghost visuals would be more appropriate.

The performances stand out as the most successful aspect of McPherson’s film. Ciarán Hinds (THERE WILL BE BLOOD) deservedly won the Best Actor prize during the film’s premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and Aidan Quinn was well cast in the role of an arrogant, obsessed writer fixated on a woman with no interest and uncontrollably driven to drinking and hostility.

In all fairness, THE ECLIPSE was not all bad. It will have it’s audience, but that audience will likely be small. Fans of paranormal or supernatural stories should view cautiously, because this is not that kind of story. THE ECLIPSE borrows and implements some basic ghost story tactics but uses them sparingly. These tactics are used to tell a story of burgeoning friendship with the potential for romance that arises from a melancholy shared by Michael and Lena.

THE ECLIPSE will screen at the Tivoli on Sunday, November 15th at 9:15pm during the 18th Annual Whitaker Saint Louis International Film Festival.

SLIFF 2009 Review: TOUCHING HOME

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Whether you’re a baseball fan or not, TOUCHING HOME is a wonderful story and a great little film that’s appeared from somewhere out in left field. The film is inspired by true events, written, produced and directed by and starring the real life twin brothers Logan and Noah Miller. This pair of first-time indie filmmakers have really hit a home run with this movie that among other things, features a pretty impressive cast.

The story is about a pair of twin brothers who grew up together in a household run by their alcoholic father. Through the years, they’ve supported each other while taking care of their father who, if not working, was drinking. The brothers love baseball and play with a passion and seriousness that leads them to playing with the Colorado Rockies minor league system. When poor college grades and being cut from the roster ends their dreams of making it to the big leagues, the brothers reluctantly return home.

This doesn’t spell the end of their hopes to one day make it to the majors, a they agree to regroup back home and practice hard while working and saving their money to head back out to Arizona the following season for tryouts. The brothers begin work right away at the rock quarry that their father still works himself to the bone. When the twins’ father Charlie (Ed Harris) attempts to reconnect to his boys, a split is formed. Beginning as a simple disagreement over whether to associate themselves with the man that stole their childhood, replacing it with a responsibility to care for their drunken father, this rift quickly intensifies, threatening to destroy their dreams for good.

TOUCHING HOME is clearly a story told from the Miller brothers’ hearts. The film is saturated with a powerful honesty and openness that is a testament to the reality of what is unfolding on screen. Noah and Logan delivered commendable performances, given their first outing, but the sense that they were simply reenacting events that had taken place in their own lives adds to that understanding. Some of the scenes of conflict between to two brothers did feel a bit forced, especially the extremely emotional and angry moments, but once again the understanding of how personal a story this is allows for some leniency.

Perhaps the best element of TOUCHING HOME aside from the script would have to be the supporting cast. Robert Forster (JACKIE BROWN) has a small role as the town sheriff, but his character plays a crucial role as the glue that eventually helps to bring the end of the story together. Brad Dourif (Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN) plays Charlie’s handicapped cousin Clyde. Dourif is truly an under-appreciated maestro of character acting and delivers yet another unique and memorable performance as the child-like and lovable man who enjoys painting in the barn and whom Charlie has great affection for.

Ed Harris, as if I even had to tell anyone this, is incredible, as always. For some reason, he has a real knack for portraying alcoholic characters with severely complex internal turmoil. Previously dawning the whiskey bottle role as the artist in POLLOCK and later as a writer in WINTER PASSING, I can only hope this isn’t art impersonating Harris’ real life. In TOUCHING HOME, Harris gives a convincing performance as a man who simply cannot put down the bottle and works himself to death just so he can blow every penny on an equally destructive gambling addiction. The guilt and sense of helplessness that Charlie clearly feels about his own condition is made almost tangible by Harris’ subtle perfection of his craft.

Shot in California, where the story takes place, the setting feels very much like the rural Midwest, except for the redwood trees, where baseball is a dream for many young men. The vistas and landscapes filmed in TOUCHING HOME are beautifully picturesque portraits that add to the film, driven primarily by the writing and acting. There is a sense of comfort and warmth created by the cinematography that directly counters the emotions that embody the brothers’ return home and struggle to reconcile their relationship with Charlie.

Overall, baseball plays a relatively small role in this film, but still has a strong enough presence to please the average sports fan. The twin brothers are an inseparable team, pitcher and catcher, who support and encourage each other but find they need the town to help them back on track after family tragedy strikes unexpectedly. TOUCHING HOME has a genuine Hallmark sensibility of human drama and hope, without the sappy writing and unrealistic acting. Hands down, this is a film that anyone can appreciate.

TOUCHING HOME will screen at the Tivoli on Monday, November 16th at 7:00pm during the 18th Annual Whitaker Saint Louis International Film Festival.

SLIFF 2009 Review: MADE IN CHINA

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Judith Krant makes her directorial debut with MADE IN CHINA, a satirical mockumentary mumblecore mutt of a movie that is as original and creatively risque as it is funny and intelligent. Jackson Kuehn (SINGULARITY) stars as Johnson, an eager and ambitious young entrepreneur who has decided to go all out and focus on making his novelty invention a reality. He sets off for Shanghai, China at his mother’s behest and begins his journey to find the elusive James Choi, the man who Johnson believes will manufacture anything.

MADE IN CHINA is a wacky criticism of contemporary trends. Part mockumentary, part Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock documentary, with all the appeal of THE OFFICE. Johnson is confident and sure that his product will be a huge hit. His scenes, often aggressive and awkward, hint at an influence from Sasha Baron Cohen without the controversial crudeness. The film switches from segments depicting Johnson on his pursuit for the American Dream in China to segments featuring crudely animated presentations narrated by Johnson, set to stock inspirational music.

The audience will find itself bouncing frantically between moments of hilarity and absurdity to moments whereas we almost forget this is entirely fictional. Johnson daydreams and hallucinates about his product making it big and having its own infomercials. Before his product is even officially contracted, before he has even met with the man who would make it all happen, Johnson is already being sucked into the corrosive and dangerous allure of fame and fortune.

Johnson is a man lost in his dream, oblivious to the world around him and susceptible to con men and industry swindlers. The audience feels Johnson’s nervousness as well as his hope for success. The audience also finds themselves watching squeamishly through the looking glass as Johnson makes mistakes that seem blatantly obvious. Its a strange sensation to pull for the good-natured Johnson and wish him success while also realizing he’s a clueless putz that practically wears a sign reading “screw me over, please”.

Jackson Keuhn delivers a strikingly comical breakout performance that is well-matched with Krant’s vision and imaginative style. MADE IN CHINA is a wholly new breed of comedy that draws from various existing influences. This will surely be a crowd-pleaser and has the potential to become a cult favorite. MADE IN CHINA tells a story with heart, albeit manufactured and often silly, and is equally entertaining and informational. That’s right… you’ll actually learn something about the novelty industry as well!

MADE IN CHINA will screen at the Tivoli on Saturdayday, November 14th at 5:00pm during the 18th Annual Whitaker Saint Louis International Film Festival.

SLIFF 2009 Review: HOW I GOT LOST

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How I Got Lost… Well, maybe you should start to answer that with the drunken cab ride out New York to Philadelphia. The film by Joe Leonard follows Andrew (Aaron Stanford) and Jake (Jacob Fishel) a year after the 9/11 attacks. They were two promising kids who grew up into mediocrity. Jake, an aspiring novelist who settles for sports writing, loved and lost a beautiful blond girl named Sarah (Nicole Vicius), a girl who tends to disappear a lot, and Andrew, in the midst of a drunken downward spiral, just lost his father. Andrew tricks Jake into attending the funeral, hence the “surprise” trip to Philadelphia, and then on to Ohio. On their journey, Jake meets a small town waitress, Leslie (Rosemarie Dewitt), and the flirtatious outcome that is more than predictable follows. Andrew, being the loud, obnoxious one of the duo, makes a rude, loud speech to all of the guests at the wake, and delves further into his alcoholism. The journey moves on to find Jake meeting several people to influence his life, while Andrew does not have the same positive outcome. Go figure, the one that drinks his life away doesn’t get the fairytale ending!

The film contains many flashbacks of Jake and Sarah, filled with horribly cheesy music and philosophical voice overs or lines that are way too over thought. Although the characters are all very likable, especially Jake, the film seems like it tries a bit too hard to be deep and meaningful. It almost seems like the kids from Dawson’s Creek grew up and made this film. The friendship between the two, although sweet and easy to relate to, is horribly cliche. Most of the film can be predicted before you get through the sequence of events leading up to each situation. I have a hard time believing that a small town gas attendant would give two strange men a ride back to their car, or a waitress would pick up a man, after just meeting him once or twice at her work, and take him with her to pick up her infant son. Not to mention she takes him home after that, and lets him “spend the night”.

I got bored with all of the cliches and the lack of believability pretty quickly with this one. I would have turned it off an hour into it if the character of Jake wasn’t so likable. The concept of finding true happiness when you think that nothing can possibly go right in your life is great, I just don’t know if it was executed to its full possibility in this one.

HOW I GOT LOST will screen at the Tivoli on Saturday, November 14th at 2:30pm and at Webster University on Sunday, November 15th at 6:00pm during the 18th Annual Whitaker Saint Louis International Film Festival.

SLIFF 2009 Review: CLOUD 9

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Let me paint you a picture. You come home from work one day, tired, but happy to be alive. You spend a quiet evening with your spouse and children. You’ve worked hard for the life you have, but it’s all been worth it. Then the phone rings. It’s your 67-year old mother and she’s calling to tell you she’s been having an affair with a 76-year old man and is leaving your father. Shocked? I would be.

CLOUD 9 (Wolke Neun) is the story of Inge (Ursula Werner). She is a 67-year old woman, mother and wife of 30 years to Werner (Horst Rehberg). Quite unexpectedly, Inge finds herself fallen in love with an older man. She carries on an intimate affair with 76-year old Karl (Horst Westphal). Inge and Karl both are extremely passionate and rambunctious lovers, finding pure joy and bliss when with one another.

After a few weeks, Inge begins to feel guilty not only for having the affair, but more significantly for having kept this a secret from Werner. After confiding this secret to her daughter Petra (Steffi Kuhnert) she decides she can no longer face Werner without having him know the truth. Inge reveals her affair to Werner, and thus begins the downward spiral of their 30-year relationship with each other.

Initially, reaction to the very idea of this film may be one of disbelief or even disgust. Put all of that aside. Ask yourself, is any of this so foreign that we find it unbelievable or repulsive? What Inge goes through, and puts Werner through, can happen to anyone at any age. An innocent playground romance that ends after a week or two. A high school sweetheart that breaks your heart. A middle-aged marriage that just wasn’t meant to be. Who’s to say two grown adults in their golden years could not conceivably experience these very same life events? Once I began seeing CLOUD 9 in that light, the film became much more beautiful than what is seen on the surface.

To be frankly honest, the first quarter or more of the film can be a bit tough to sit through. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for senior citizens getting it on. Viva la Viagra! But, the uninhibited choice of director Andreas Dresen to put this highly sexual love affair right in our faces from the get go was both bold and poignant. When it comes down to it, this sort of thing does really happen in real life, but no one ever wants to discuss it or touch the subject with a ten-foot pole. Why is that? [rhetorical question]

Ursula Werner gives a heart-felt and personal performance as Inge, struggling with her mixed emotions and the fact that despite her youthful affair with Karl, she still deeply loves Werner. Inge has no intention of hurting Werner and repeatedly exclaims that she never wanted any of this. Ursula Werner’s performance exudes those many memories of youthful love, sexual confusion and broken hearts. Transplant the elderly characters of CLOUD 9 with a cast straight out of SIXTEEN CANDLES and you have essentially the same basic story of love and love lost. Why then, should we appreciate this story any less?

Karl is a playful and vibrant man at the ripe age of 76, but it’s difficult to feel any empathy for him in this tale. Westphal gives us a wonderful performance as a man simply trying to live out what years remain in his life with as much joy and fervor as he can muster, taking bike rides and skinny dips, but the audience will have difficulty connecting with him. Conversely, the slightly younger Werner appears more frail and content with his life as an older man. Horst Werner plays this role with a melancholy matched only by the resignation in his eyes.

CLOUD 9 is an extremely quiet film, allowing the characters and audience both to reflect on the situation presented. The few moments of excitement in the film comes from either ends of the spectrum of human feeling, whether it’s Inge’s ecstatic expression of pleasure during her many throws of passion with Karl, or the heated and emotional cries and arguments between her and Werner when she reveals the truth, the story is Inge’s to tell as she lives it.

The pace is a tad slow, but given the relatively short running time of the film it never really becomes unbearable. I found the ending to be anything but a surprise, given it’s visibility from a mile away, but this certainly doesn’t withdraw from the devastating effect it has on the viewer. Inge develops into a character that we often want to dislike but simply cannot. She embodies the desires and hopefulness and even the uncertainty we all have in life, regardless of our age. While the story of CLOUD 9 is not new to us, the perspective given the story by Dresen is one we will not soon forget, whether we want to or not.

CLOUD 9 will screen at the Frontenac on Saturday, November 14th at 9:30pm and on Sunday, November 15th at 3:00pm during the 18th Annual Whitaker Saint Louis International Film Festival.

SLIFF 2009 Review: CAT CITY

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Nick (Julian Sands) is a dirty, dirty businessman. He is a very wealthy man who has been cheating on his beautiful wife Victoria (Rebecca Pidgeon) with one of her coworkers (they are both  attorneys  at the same law firm). When he gets a call from a business associate to let an  acquaintance  stay at his house, he lets a young Jonas McCaw (Alano Massi) stay with his wife while he goes out to play in Las Vegas. The only thing that he didn’t bet on was that before he left, Victoria hired a private investigator named Harold (Brian Dennehy) to find out just what her husband was up to. Obviously she did not trust him. With good reason too! He invested a great deal of money into a shady casino project that goes south, and he is now trying to get his money back.

The cast is rather entertaining with the exception of the sly, womanizing,  deceitful  Jonas. He was bland, and as a female, not at all convincing as a sexually appealing man. His character is more reminiscent of a really bad public service announcement or an after school movie that did NOT include Tori Spelling or Tiffani-Amber-Thiessen. Although low budget, the story line is rather interesting. The execution, on the other hand, is less than stellar. You simply cannot have a character as important as Jonas and have a crappy actor play the part. Brian Dennehy was robbed of more screen time as well. During the first hour he gets less than five minutes. Sad indeed.

I also noticed some voice dubbing problems throughout. I know that when you are working on a low budget, that these things can happen, but I would not have expected it with all of the great reviews that I have read about this film. T o be honest, I would have expected a much more interesting and well put together film then what I witnessed. Like I said, the storyline and most of the actors are decent, bit the main  villain  is a TERRIBLE actor! He alone ruins the whole experience of this film. That only amplifies the bad shots, horrible resolution, and bad dubbing.

If this film gets a second chance, and I really hope it does because it’s worth saving, it is in dire need of better production and a much better villain!

CAT CITY will screen at the Tivoli on Saturday, November 14th at 9:30pm and on Sunday, November 15th at 7:15pm during the 18th Annual Whitaker Saint Louis International Film Festival.