Followers (2000)

Director:

Jonathan M. Flicker

Writer:

Jonathan M. Flicker (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Evil will triumph when good men do nothing.

Plot:

Inspired by a series of actual racial hazing incidents, 'Followers' focuses on three friends who want to pledge an exclusive fraternity...

Plot Keywords:

Hazing

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Sam Trammell	...	John Dietrich
Eddie Robinson	...	Steve Trayer
Mark Dobies	...	Jake Tyler
Jessica Prunell	...	Cynthia Gordon
Jerry Laurino	...	Allen Phillips
Cary Phillips	...	Terry Graham
Crew Hoakes	...	T.J. O'Malley
Willie C. Carpenter	...	Mr. Trayer
Carol Clarke	...	Mrs. Trayer
Teja Frank	...	Shannen Trayer
Robert Flicker	...	Mr. Dietrich
Paul Raggio	...	Lawyer
Jonathan M. Flicker	...	Jeff Portnoy
Dave Hugas	...	Fredericks / KPL Brother
Marino Wecer	...	Frank / KPL Brother

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language, some drug use and a scene of violence.

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Mahwah, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Castle Hill Productions

Trivia:

Shot in 1996 as a student film for a total budget of $50,000. Filmed on 16mm with a crew made up of students, and featuring a cast of unknowns, the film went on a college tour and had a brief release in October of 2000.

interesting subject but not very well done

I saw "Followers" on TV, and I have to say that while the subject matter could make an interesting, thought-provoking, dramatic and compelling film, THIS film is unfortunately not it. Among the biggest problems here is that the two lead actors, Sam Trammell and Eddie Robinson, are not very good - they both skim the surfaces of their characters and neither one is able to summon the depth of emotions the events in the story call for (Trammell's voice-overs are particularly heavy-handed and deadly). Mark Dobies and Jerry Laurino are reasonably convincing as unsympathetic characters who ultimately cross a line even they were not prepared for, but they are not helped by the direction or script at all - the dramatic climax, which should be shocking, is almost laughably cartoon-like instead. The film does have a nice look to it, but some of the story elements are far-fetched (Trammell's character's cluelessness, for instance), and the direction is lackluster at best and snail-paced at worst, so even those moments that could have felt authentic come off as being false.

I felt as if I was watching a reenactment of the plot events done by non-actors, for educational and moral-uplifting purposes, rather than eavesdropping on horrific real life events, which is of course what watching a film about this subject should feel like. I could only recommend "Followers" as possible research material if you are interested in this topic, since it's supposedly based on real-life hazing incidents, but as a movie it really falls flat.