Dave Made a Maze (2017)

Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation.

Director:

Bill Watterson

Writers:

Steven Sears (screenplay), Bill Watterson (screenplay)

Stars:

Meera Rohit Kumbhani, Nick Thune, Adam Busch

16 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Meera Rohit Kumbhani	...	Annie
Nick Thune	...	Dave
Adam Busch	...	Gordon
James Urbaniak	...	Harry
Frank Caeti	...	Boom Operator
Scott Narver	...	Cameraman
Stephanie Allynne	...	Brynn
Kirsten Vangsness	...	Jane
Scott Krinsky	...	Leonard
Timothy Nordwind	...	Greg
John Hennigan	...	The Minotaur
Rick Overton	...	Hobo
Kamilla Alnes	...	Flemish Tourist
Drew Bradley	...	Flemish Tourist (as Drew Knigga)
Etienne Eckert	...	Shadow Dancer

Storyline

'Dave Made A Maze' re-imagines classic 80's adventure films with a modern comedic edge and a higher body count. Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation. Ignoring his warnings, Dave's girlfriend Annie leads a band of oddball explorers on a rescue mission. The handmade fantasy world comes to life with puppetry, stop-motion animation, and in-camera optical illusions, re-igniting the tactile sense of wonder from the movies of our childhoods.

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Plot Keywords:

surrealism | artist | origami | trapped | maze | 

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Taglines:

He thought of everything but a way out

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Blog Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 August 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dave Made a Maze

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,135, 20 August 2017

Gross USA:

$34,117

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$34,117

Company Credits

Production Co:

Butter Stories, Dave Made An LLC, Foton Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie initially utilized scrap cardboard from an American Apparel factory in LA. The producer thought they had more than enough to last the full length of the shoot. When they ran out three weeks later they found that the company was no longer willing to give their scrap away. Luckily, they were shooting next to Solar City, which was willing to let the crew dumpster dive for all of the cardboard they needed. The vast majority of the cardboard was returned to those same dumpsters for recycling. The production did not pay for any cardboard.

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Quotes

Dave: I wasn't striving for anything. I just wanted to make something. And I can't sit on my couch and watch t.v. or think that the internet is going to inspire me because I'm f***ing thirty years old. And my parents are still giving me money. And I bore the s**t out of them. And I work jobs that I hate that I have to beg to get. Do you know what it means to be broke? It means that you are broken. That you don't work.

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Soundtracks

Pinball
Written and Performed by Tandemoro

User Reviews

I don't know what Dave made exactly, but I enjoyed it!

I won't lie to you saying that I completely get this film and what's going on it it (I'm not even sure we're supposed to get it completely), but I will tell you this - I certainly enjoyed it.

The title is pretty self-explanatory. Dave's girlfriend comes back home to find out he's lost in a cardboard maze he built in the middle of their living room. Apparently the whole thing's way bigger on the inside. Dave's been inside for three days and can't get out. Friends come by to help, no one seems to believe Dave literally CAN'T get out of there, since the maze looks like a couple of boxes and paper leftovers taped together... and they get inside where weird stuff starts to happen.

Call it whatever you want and it's probably all that! This film is entertaining, abstract, surreal, surprising, bizarre, quirky, enigmatic, random, creative, experimental, funny, offbeat, thought-provoking, sarcastic, visually pleasing, playful, whimsical, hand-made...

I mean, it's a highly unusual mix, that makes watching it a really interesting experience. It feels like a commentary of 30s crisis, wasted youth and missed opportunities, artistic aspirations and all that, but it's also more. Every character is their own caricature. The film crew is especially spot-on, if you've ever had anything to do with the film industry you'd laugh out loud on some of their scenes.

If you want to escape from the cliché enter Dave's labyrinth! You can analyze it, or you can look at the diverse sets and curious production design, you can look for the parody moments and film references scattered around the scenes... You can also watch it with friends over a drink and laugh and point out all the WTF moments in there.

The film lasts a little more than an hour without the credits, so it will be over before it can bore you. Maybe :"Dave Made a Maze" won't stun you and puzzle you and get inside your head like Jim Henson's "Cube" (1969) or something by Terry Gilliam, but it's definitely worth checking out and has the potential of a cult following!