Live for the Moment

With Live for the Moment, 15-year-old Richard Booth has made an impressively ambitious debut. Although it's evident he still has a lot to learn, the sheer scale of the film he had made at such a tender age, together with the complexity of the issues he raises within his own script, mark him out as a talent to watch in the future.

Unfortunately, he is let down somewhat by the acting, which is not first rate. While his young lead (a real sufferer of Tourettes Syndrome) gives a heartfelt performance, Noel Fitzpatrick as the doctor isn't nearly as convincing, failing to convince he is the tortured soul he makes out (not helped by the fact he doesn't look much like a doctor). In truth, the performance of the youngsters puts the older, supposedly more professional actors, to shame.

Booth, however, makes up for this with his script which, although it perhaps needed another draft, has enough to it to make it both thought-provoking and provocative. The paradoxical comparisons he draws between youthful ambition in the face of adversity and the slow surrendering of a life unfulfilled is both ironic and moving, and, if his actual dialogue is occasionally naive, it shouldn't be discounted, especially as a lot of it is based on real experiences. Equally, his skill in making the most of what was virtually a zero-budget (watch out particularly for an ingenious get-around for the scene with an ambulance) bodes well for the future.

It's not perfect. It's rough around the edges and has a few clumsy moments, but it's certainly a promising debut and I look forward to seeing where Booth takes his obvious talent in the future.