Jumping Off Bridges

Few films handle the difficulties and complexities of teenager-dom as well as this one. Canlder has a unique ability to imbue her characters with depth and sensitivity without being overly sentimental or cliché. Great soundtrack. These characters are real. Lacking the false glamour and pretentious irony-filled self awareness of many teens in recent American films, Canlder's cast instantly brings you back to what it was to be in high school--the good and the not so good. The plot is wonderfully spare in its exposition, and the focus is on letting the characters stand on their own, complete with their imperfections and secrets. An excellent dialog starter for topics that many people simply don't want to go near or don't know how to begin.

i had a chance to hear the director speak about the film at sxsw. she seemed like a genuine person, and i don't like giving this movie a poor review, but i'm not going to lie the thing was boring. the negative reviews i've read so far on here are a lot more accurate then the positives. the pacing is slow, the characters are hard to believe, and yeah, how did this movie even get accepted into this festival? so the movie is unflinching, big deal. original it's not. cassidy kids, another film that played at sxsw, also dealt with teenagers, and it was a complete 180 from this film in terms of originality and spirit. maybe i'm being too mean, but i agree that this film probably got into this festival because it was shot locally here in austin, tx. as an austinite, it was interesting seeing a lot of austin areas up on the screen, and a lot of the production qualities of this film were actually pretty decent. the story definitely needed work though, at an hour and a half it felt like 3 hours. bad thing when you're checking your watch constantly throughout a movie.

Rarely do I vote a film a 10. 10's for me tend to feature Ed Norton (because he's a fantastic actor) or Naomi Watts (because I'm hopelessly in love). The screening experience I had at the South by Southwest Film Festival Premier of JUMPING OFF BRIDGES was special because, from someone whose dealt with a friend committing suicide in the past, the reactions from the story's characters are appropriate, touching, and accurate. The acting was one of my favorite aspects of the film, along with the genuine feeling that these four friends are struggling with a, once unheard of and definitely unexpected, tragedy. After the film, a question was asked from the audience regarding the current state of the four main characters that the film was based on. Witnessing the director and writer of the film nearly breakdown due to the emotional toll of the lead character, Zack, passing away earlier this year, touched the hearts of the entire audience. Once again, I vote 10 out of 10 for JUMPING OFF BRIDGES because if you can relate to the story at all, then it will touch your heart...advice you on how hard, but necessary it is to cope with those sad situations that life sometimes throws you.

I got to watch this at SXSW (3-11-06), and it was certainly a breath of fresh air. Most mainstream movies are glazed over with frosting. A lot of indie movies seem to stress unnecessarily long scenes with witty sarcasm. Jumping Off Bridges seemed to contain neither of those elements, because life isn't the way it is in movies.

The technical aspects of the movie are easy to handle. The costumes certainly looked real. When I saw the dad in his classroom, I giggled because everyone one of my math teachers dressed just the same. No one in the movie had hip, trendy clothes, and none of them looked alike. The neighborhood that everyone lived in was very much a normal neighborhood. Most movies seem to want to have everyone live in $200,000 homes where everyone has expensive cars and an endless supply of money. The students weren't driving Hummers, Lexus', or Range Rovers. The camera-work was pretty decent, coming from a photographer who pays extra attention to cropping, angles, lighting situations, depth of field, etc. The sound was also very good, especially the original music -- I love piano. The editing was also very good, coming from an editor who also pays close attention to editing in movies.

If you want movies like The Notebook, Forest Gump, Dumb and Dumber, crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, then you won't like this movie.

If you want movies like Pieces of April, Broken Flowers, I Am Sam (Sean Pess should have won the Oscar that year), then you will probably like this movie.

This movie is not only worth seeing it is in my opinion a must see. Rarely do I see a film that tackles the topic of suicide and the aftermath of what a suicide creates like Kat Candler's "Jumping off Bridges". I have had several opportunities to view the film and I have always been amazed at how this film gets people talking. In my mind that is what a good film does; it gets your mind moving and you mouth open and your eyes a little tear filled. OK, the tears aren't a requirement for a good film but this film does all that. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to see this film and to share it with others. If you are in the market for a film that will create discussion about one of societies last know taboos "suicide" then this is your movie. Watch it!