Get the Picture (2004) User Reviews

Intense and intelligent

[terrencesmith666 · 8/10 · 24 February 2005]

I caught this unusually well-made, chilling short film on Channel 4. I was gripped from the start, and being a big fan of Brian Cox, I started fumbling for a blank VHS.. I'd never heard of this movie! The look and intensity of the film, the soundtrack and the actors all felt like a new feature, so I was surprised and a little disappointed that it turned out to be a short.

Looking it up online, "Get the Picture" is described as "a ten minute pilot for the feature "Fourth Wall", written and directed by Rupert Wyatt. Lets hope the wonderful Cox is a part of it - if this is a pilot, I think we can hope for great things in the feature. Cox has recently graced many American movies - Bourne Identity & Bourne Supremacy, Troy, 25th Hour - it would be great to see him in a gritty new British film.

OK but the lack of substance is a problem

[bob the moo · 25 September 2005]

Two journalists are taken by the local army into a small town that has become a graveyard after a terrorist attack. Jake starts taking pictures right away and continues as they are taken into a hall where four young men are being held by a group of mourners – supposedly responsible for the attack. As the mob prepares to kill the men, Harry refuses to take any part in it while Jake struggles to decide whether or not he should cover it or take a stand.

The premise makes it sound better than it really is, because the degree of unknowns within the plot and other weak aspects undermine the value that the film has in other areas. The plot is as simple as I have said above and it was a problem for me that it didn't go any deeper than that. Without a location or an understanding of the conflict it does very much come down to how well the film looks at the idea of journalism and how difficult it is to stay neutral. It does this reasonable well but I thought it could have done it a lot better – such as it is there isn't any real debate or thought about the subject, both characters seem to have made their mind up and if Jake is caught on the throws of a dilemma then the audience are not privy to it.

The cast don't have a great deal to do. Cox is always going to be worth watching and his presence is a blessing here but he doesn't have much to do with a one-note performance. Owen has a more interesting character to work with (potentially) but the material doesn't help him and his performance is unconvincing. The support cast are all realistic and natural and help set the feel of the place. Wyatt's direction is very good though and he does well to build tension – although it is also his fault that the material is weak as he also wrote.

Overall an OK short film but one that lacks the debate and thought that I'd hoped it would have. It is tense and reasonably interesting with good direction but it was the lack of substance that put me off and left me unlikely to return to it for a second run.

Well Directed But Hardly Compelling

[Theo Robertson · 5/10 · 21 February 2005]

GET THE PICTURE is a film written and directed by Rupert Wyatt . Unfortunately it's a short film which doesn't do the subject matter much justice . Two war correspondents Harry and Jake are driven in the back of a truck to a village that has been bombed by rebel forces . Is it Afghanistan or Iraq ? It's certainly a Muslim country with a few dodgy special forces types from the Delta Force or SAS glimpsed in the background but we never find out for sure . Nor do we find out the rather abrasive interaction going on between the correspondents and the soldiers , or whether the captured " rebels " are guilty or innocent

I don't want to give the impression that GET THE PICTURE is awful - It's not , it does contain scenes with great tension , but it is like very many short movies lacking any type of context and feels more like a segment of a feature length film . It is well directed and look forward to seeing more of Mr Wyatt's work in the future as long as he gets someone to write him a hundred page script