I liked Peter Paige in QAF, but sorry to say, he is no director and he shouldn't be directing himself.
The movie has no consistent tone.. it tries to actually take a light hearted approach to a very touchy subject and in the process only succeeds in really making one feel creepy about the main character and the topic of supposed pedophilia.
Paige simply can't bring off this character. There are too many inconsistencies and after a while you start talking back to the screen frustrated with the guy's entire approach to life. I'm sure there are naive people like this, but Paige simply makes this character depressing and unattractive. A third of the way through the film you wish he would just go away or that his friends would have a major intervention!!
That being said, the core problem with the film is Paige, the director. The movie drags; badly. The musical score doesn't go with the tone of the film and becomes annoying. The other actors and characters are bland and one dimensional. Paige cannot elicit a single interesting performance. A wonderful character actress like Kathy Najimy gives a dull, lifeless performance as Paige's adversary. The other moms are equally pedestrian as are Paige's boyfriend and boss at work. Add to that, the screenplay by Paige has no wit or cleverness which was certainly needed to make such a difficult subject even work on film.
For all it's "good intentions" the movie from a purely dramatic standpoint is a mess. The big climax doesn't really work and adds to the film's generally depressing contour. Perhaps a better writer and director could have made an engaging film out of this story. As it stands, save yourself the frustration and skip this!
The movie has no consistent tone.. it tries to actually take a light hearted approach to a very touchy subject and in the process only succeeds in really making one feel creepy about the main character and the topic of supposed pedophilia.
Paige simply can't bring off this character. There are too many inconsistencies and after a while you start talking back to the screen frustrated with the guy's entire approach to life. I'm sure there are naive people like this, but Paige simply makes this character depressing and unattractive. A third of the way through the film you wish he would just go away or that his friends would have a major intervention!!
That being said, the core problem with the film is Paige, the director. The movie drags; badly. The musical score doesn't go with the tone of the film and becomes annoying. The other actors and characters are bland and one dimensional. Paige cannot elicit a single interesting performance. A wonderful character actress like Kathy Najimy gives a dull, lifeless performance as Paige's adversary. The other moms are equally pedestrian as are Paige's boyfriend and boss at work. Add to that, the screenplay by Paige has no wit or cleverness which was certainly needed to make such a difficult subject even work on film.
For all it's "good intentions" the movie from a purely dramatic standpoint is a mess. The big climax doesn't really work and adds to the film's generally depressing contour. Perhaps a better writer and director could have made an engaging film out of this story. As it stands, save yourself the frustration and skip this!