Dakota Skye

With an intoxicating screenplay, Dakota Skye really drew me in. The heroine's detachment from motivation and cynical awareness of anything false drew me in via personal relation. Though the execution of the movie was a little off, the screenplay and characters made up for it. With a little patience, I truly appreciated this movie. The concept is unique and I loved witnessing Dakota resolve a series of common faults. The movie had a rugged style I found myself connecting with. It had a familiar "slow film" feel to it, but was far from boring and nothing short of interesting. Definitely an independent film worth watching, and definitely deserving of the Phoenix Film Festival award for screenplay. The writers behind this movie did a fantastic job.

I was at the Phoenix Film Festival this weekend, and it was one of the strongest batch of quality films I've seen at a festival. There were none of those high- profile stinkers (like Hound Dog) that always seem to slip into these showcases. Just good cinema.

By far the Best of the Fest was a little film called DAKOTA SKYE. It's a coming of age story (strike 1) with no stars (strike 2). But the film does not deserve to go back to the lockers. This should be seen by the widest audience possible. (At the fest, I saw a similar remarkable film, the already acclaimed American Teen. This was even better.)

And while it's about a 16 year-old girl growing up in Phoenix, the film is not your typical coming of age drama...not even close. There's a (let's say) superhero element that makes the film completely unique (without relying on its gimmick like say, What Women Want.) The ingenious script by Chad Shonk (who so deserved the Award he won) merely uses his gimmick as a jumping off point, to explore issues of trust. I am not the target audience for this film, yet it spoke to me in a way I would not have expected. (It's even more exceptional that the film was written, produced and directed by men, yet is such a strong woman's picture.)

And the cast may not be stars, but they can Act, with a capital A. Eileen Boylan gets a star-making part as the emotionally conflicted Dakota. She plays well off of Ian Nelson and J.B. Ghuman as the two men in her life. Each performer brings a different energy to the film, and you can see what appeals to Dakota and draws her to both guys. (The conflict is highlighted in an amazing movie theater scene that contains some of the film's best dialogue and most subtly powerful direction.) Nelson shows the skills of a solid leading man, while Ghuman should be required casting for any filmmaker looking for an actor who can steal the movie. His mixture of jerkiness and emotional sincerity should be taught to other actors of his generation who keep messing parts like this up.

The film is really well edited. For a dialogue-heavy film, there's a lot of montages and they feel carefully planned, not scraped together out of whatever footage was lying around. (Something that you come to expect to find in a first-time Indie film.) And it's all tied up with a light and bouncy score that knows when to come in and when to let the actors do the heavy lifting.

I learned this is the feature debut of director John Humber, and I can't wait to see where he goes next. This is an assured first film (like the best parts of Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides or David Gordon Green's George Washington.) My big fear is that, with no stars to push, the film will get lost on the festival circuit and we will all lose out on one of the most exciting filmmakers I've seen in a while. I urge everybody to mark this page, google the film, do whatever you have to. If this film comes to your town, DO NOT MISS IT. If you happen to be on a festival committee, don't be so quick to give it a pass. (Like Hustle & Flow, the film gets better and better as it goes on.) You'll want to say that you played this film and supported this filmmaker. (He also gives an excellent Q&A.)

DAKOTA SKYE, the best independent film that isn't getting enough attention.

p.s. I was inspired to write this review because I worry the film won't get released in theaters or come out on DVD. And I really want to own this film on DVD. I don't want the festival to be the one and only time I get to watch it.

You've already read the synopsis from the other reviews, so I'll spare you that. Just let me tell you that I stumbled across this film not knowing what to expect and within the first minute, I was pulled in and it never let go.

I am definitely not it's intended demo (50 year old male), but I do appreciate good cinema, especially the "indie" efforts. Granted, many of such films can be arduous at best, but not Dakota Skye. The actors all gave stellar performances in a very natural way. You never felt as if you were watching a production, but rather it was if you floated down into their lives for a couple of hours. That's why I watch movies.

Highly recommended. Please give this movie some good word of mouth. It truly deserves it.

I had read so many good things about Dakota Skye, that I had to track it down and give it a spin. I agree with some of the positive things that have been said about it. The young actors that are the stars were uniformly wonderful and believable. The direction and acting all shared an organic feel, that made it easy to get into the vibe of the movie. 

Other than that, I wasn't really wowed by Dakota Skye. The story is interesting enough, and Dakota's ability, while fantastical, actually serves as the emotional groundwork of the movie. Dakota's personality is perfectly reasonable, given her circumstances. I know I'd be as cynical and jaded as she occasionally was. Maybe even more. It's refreshing to see such a well-written character. But beyond that, the movie was never much more than a mildly enjoyable experience. Decent, but not great. I liked the idea more than its actual execution.

Watching Dakota Sky was like breathing sweet air on a quiet summer evening. The writing is almost pitch-perfect - a quality that is this movie's stand-out feature, for me. The characters are honestly developed and well-acted. The film's structure and pacing are very fine - almost perfect.

The only downside is that the story is slight. (More drama, depth and complexity would have made this a better film - a different one, too, of course. I think the writer, director and cast could have handled it.)

Considering the budget, this is an outstanding production overall, and worthy of attention.

(I wanted to know more about the producer, director, writer and actors, and was disappointed to find that no one has produced Wiki pages for most of these creative artists, as yet.)