Half-Life (2008)

Director:

Jennifer Phang

Writer (WGA):

Jennifer Phang (written by)

Release Date:

2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

As troubling signs of global cataclysms accelerate, a brother and sister react to their father's desertion and the powerful presence of their mother's new boyfriend.

Plot Keywords:

Punctuation In Title | Hyphen In Title

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Sanoe Lake	...	Pamela Wu
Julia Nickson-Soul	...	Saura Wu
Leonardo Nam	...	Scott Parker
Ben Redgrave	...	Wendell
Lee Marks	...	Jonah Robertson
James Eckhouse	...	Richard Parker
Susan Ruttan	...	Lorraine Parker
Alexander Agate	...	Timothy Wu
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Katrina Agate	...	Jenny
Mary Angello	...	Aida
Vonn Scott Bair	...	BBQ Dad
Mike Bruce	...	TV Anchorman
Toby Evetts	...	Documentary Announcer
Deb Fink	...	Terry Hartman
Chris Flint	...	Man in Riot Scene
Keisuke Hoashi	...	Field Reporter / Radio News Reporter
Samantha Martin	...	Patient
Danton Mew	...	Tim Wu Sr.
Andrew Pitts	...	Gunther
John Stuart West	...	Radio News Reporter

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Fade to Blue Films

Trivia:

Developed at the Film Independent (FIND) Directors Lab under the instruction of film and television director Rodrigo García.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Behind the Couch: Casting in Hollywood (2005)

Half-Life is a wonderful piece of cinema. Hands down.

It's pretty well described as "pre-apocalyptic drama" (though I'm not sure "drama" is the right word… it does have pretty hilarious moments too.), where a family finds themselves in a world sunk in environmental chaos, while still trying to cope with their own problems. The focus, of course, is not in the setting, but the particular ordeals that the incredibly diverse family have to face: a stressed out mother, Saura, a jaded daughter, Pam, and a reclusive younger son with strange paranormal powers, Tim. Also surrounding the family is Saura's manipulative boyfriend Wendell and Pam's recently outed best friend Scott, for whom she happens to hold deeper feelings than mere friendship. And fully closing the circle there's Tim's teacher and Scott's lover. Oh, and did I forget to mention that Scott's parents are zealous Christians?

The movie manages to blend in live-action scenes with beautifully hand-drawn surreal animated scenes to represent the main characters' fantasy world, giving it a really unique and original feel. I was even told by the filmmakers that they spent three years on the animation alone, so basically most of it was hand drawn frame by frame!

As you can see, there are A LOT of stories to be told, and Jennifer Phang's script does it wonderfully, not leaving a single detail out. The script is beautiful, even poetic, with the characters and their motivations tangible in every scene. But the movie is not just drama; like when Scott is talking to his father about 'reasserting things'. Scott's reply is just PRICELESS: "reassert what, my rectum?". And with some very laugh out loud moments like that one, the movie takes on an even more realistic feel.

One thing I really enjoyed was the music: it just felt RIGHT for every scene and it was beautifully written.

If you're looking for a beautifully told -and on top of everything VERY HUMAN- story, Half- Life may just do it. I thoroughly enjoyed it!