Dark Country

A newly married couple hits the road and drives through the desert from Las Vegas when they encounter a person who was just in an accident. They take him and try to find some help, but they get more than they bargained for and all hell breaks loose.

I was intrigued by this film from the trailer, not because of the story or the actors, but it was the visual flare that grabbed me. It was a film noir with a twilight zone twist and that was exactly what the film gives you. Dark Country is the directorial debut of Thomas Jane and with Dark Country he shows that he has some interesting concepts and talent to back it up, yet still needs time to hone those skills. Dark Country, while showcasing some impressive scenes, comes off as slightly amateurish at times.

The most evident is the green screen. Now, Jane has obviously chosen to make it noticeable that when they are in the car, that the scenery in the background was stylized to make it feel like a comic book. It works, but the problem lies in the production values that are evident in the cracks. Bits of the green screen are visible through our lead female characters hair and around their faces. This takes you out of the film and you realize that you're watching a film.

The second would be the audio. While Jane pays a lot of attention to the detail of the visuals, he seems to have let the audio slide a little bit. If a film has bad visuals, the audience can forgive you as long as the sound is good. If a film has bad audio, you are screwed. While the film doesn't have horrible audio, there are times that it feels like it was put together in a day. ADR is very evident and jolting.

I give the film some credit for the intrigue. I immediately wanted to listen to the audio commentary from Jane to see what his agenda was. I got some of the film, while other parts of it were lost on me. The film is without a doubt a Twilight Zone entry aided by the film noir and graphic novel aspects that Jane added. It's a genre piece that has a specific market. Jane knows what he is doing and comes off extremely prepared and knowledgeable. I just wish he would have taken a bit more time with this one and improved those little imperfections.

It's funny, during the film there were parts where I asked myself if Jane was trying to make a 3D film. Reading up on the film, much to my surprise it apparently was suppose to be a 3D film. Not only that, but Jane is apparently not happy with the final product. I can see his frustration because there is a lot here that could be good. Instead it feels as if it's an exercise. A project to see if Jane could actually direct.

Dark Country is a beautiful looking film that has a few problems, yet those few problems are jarring enough to make you upset with the final product.

Well, If you like Thomas Jane as an Actor, you'll like this film. I saw him in the Film Thursday. I always enjoyed the roles hes played. Not only did he act well in this film, but he directed it fairly well too. I think that the film noir characteristics were well portrayed, though that the film bordered a horror flick. The acting was great, and I highly recommend this film to anyone who likes film noir or thomas jane. I feel like the film was going somewhere at the end and he just didn't quite get the ending he had hoped for, but loved the film, and all the special effects that remind me of the film noir films of the 1940's.

I'm not sure if this movie had caught my eye unless Thomas Jane had directed it. I always find it interesting when an actor with some fame goes behind camera. I think Thomas Jane succeeds pretty well, the movie holds itself together all the way.

Not gonna go much into the plot, but it does indeed play a bit like a Twilight Zone episode as some others have mentioned. To speak the truth, I didn't quite understand how the movie eventually unfolded, but it was fun to watch. Probably isn't even meant to be explainable.

The noirish style works quite well. A somewhat similar look has been popular recently and it's easy to guess the budget has been tight on this one. There are many many shots, where you can see the green screen through hair or the darks just don't match up. Despite the sloppy post production, there are some nice visual ideas without going over the top with visual trickery and the noirish atmosphere works.

There are basically only two actors (three if you count Perlman) and they both do a decent job. Lauren German is quite a chameleon it seems. She never looks the same, yet she resembles so many other actresses. She's very capable of pulling of different roles, really looking forward to watch her career go sky high.

The movie is something you'd expect to see from someone graduating from a film school. It's still got the fun factor, it doesn't take itself too seriously. It feels more as if the crew made the movie for themselves rather than the audience, and that's how art should be done.

I'm still giving only 5, because it really is not a classic, even tho it's a fun little indie movie. Five here doesn't mean it's a bad movie, there's just so many better ones that I can't justify a higher score.

The first thing you will notice about this movie is it's style. It takes a few minutes to get used to the pseudo-film noire feel and the interesting camera work. In the end you may feel as though you've been watching an episode of The Twilight Zone, or Tales From the Dark Side. Welcome this feeling- it is the only way to really embrace the computer enhanced darkness that fills this movie.

For the most part the acting is solid. Thomas Jane is pulling double duty as both lead actor and director, a difficult task for anyone (watch almost any Branagh film), and in this case it works. You can tell he feels very comfortable working with his surroundings, co-stars and cameras. Lauren German never really seems to find her stride in this movie but I'm willing to blame the writer for never making any very solid decisions as to her character. And Ron Perlman is just sort of there, being Ron Perlman. Which is fine, if you like Ron Perlman.

The music isn't the best but what was written for the movie works well within the movie. If the computer enhanced darkness and story don't throw you off, the music isn't going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

I have a soft spot for this kind of film- indie-esquire, first time director, interesting story with certain, almost inexplicable, twists that are almost nuanced into the shots. I like this movie, but it's probably not going to appeal to the masses. If you want a big budget scary movie with Thomas Jane and a satisfying ending that wraps up all events in the movie into a nice little explained bow, rent The Mist. If you want something a little more offbeat with a unique vision from a first time director, try Dark Country.

I found this to be a rather enjoyable film. When I first began watching this I was initially struck with the impression that it was going to be a bit cheesy and the way it was shot seemed to come off as tacky low budget green screen work. As the movie progressed, I began to realize that all the things that seemed sorta off were purposeful. It then became a enjoyable watch that has a really nice late 50's to late 60's feel to it. Think of how Marion looked while driving to the Bates Motel in Psycho. That sort of screen work is present in this film. I found it really creative and loved watching it. The story has a Twilight Zone feel but could've been a bit more solid and there were times when I didn't think the actors were playing off each other all that great. Overall, I liked it but this is probably not going to be a film for everyone. In my opinion. the visual concept must be embraced and understood to enjoy it.