If there was a classification of C-grade films, this would be it. I have never seen or heard of any of the actors, as most are fairly newbs. This is amateur producer, editor and director Steven Elbert's first entry into filmmaking. Then you have the single resume-credit of Patrick Mills as writer.
Yes, this film has many issues in pretty much every filmmakers check-list, however, they have to start somewhere, right? You could tell from the start that this was an amateur production, probably an independent movie filmed on a shoe-string budget. The cast were inexperienced, yet eventually became convincing and started to seem experienced. Not perfect, but adequate - especially lacking casting direction from an inexperienced director.
The camera work was sloppy at first, but improved throughout the film. The score was actually decent and fitting when it was playing, which is much better than your typical overbearing and unfitting score you generally hear in B-grade films. The story was actually very clever and had some interesting bi-polar moments between the two leads. It had some good and surprising twists, with only a few plot and technical issues.
Although the 108 min runtime initially felt it'd be too long, the pacing was decent enough to fly by, especially with the twists and revelations throughout. You can tell thought went into the details of the screenplay. For his first ever writing credit, Mills did good, and both he and Elbert should be proud of their accomplishment.
Had this been the final cut from any somewhat-experienced filmmakers, it'd be lucky to get anything higher than a 4 from me. But considering this is a first attempt from two amateur filmmakers - and the fact you have to start somewhere, they deserve my 7/10 based on the merits of their experience and production abilities. For more clarification on how I review films, visit my IMDb user page to see more of my 1000+ reviews and read my reviewing criteria. Then support these two new and upcoming filmmakers by giving this film a chance. Bravo from me, sirs.
