Paper Covers Rock

'Paper Covers Rock' tells the story of Sam who is struggling to recover from a depression which had provoked a failed suicide attempt and a brief stay in a mental facility. She moves in with her older sister, Ed, hoping to get some control of her life before regaining custody of a young daughter, who now lives with her ex-husband. After obtaining a cleaning job at Ed's office, Sam visits her therapist and secures some small successes which bolster her self-esteem. Unfortunately, as she tries to rebuild her life, Ed's manipulative tendencies undermine the foundations. The older sister's malign influence is exposed when a young executive at her office asks Sam out for dinner. Ed discovers his identity and sabotages the budding romance. This betrayal reignites Sam's sense of hopelessness, leading to a resumption of self-destructive behavior.

The film is graced with excellent performances from its cast and an intelligent script. The only drawback is the arc of Sam's character and story - when her fragile equilibrium is confronted by adversity, she appears to surrender to her demons too easily - feeding suspicions that she's most comfortable with the role of victim.

Beautiful, well paced and plotted, this film depicts a woman's attempt to live in a world indifferent to the point of malice. Kaspar is convincing as Sam, a fragile and grieving attempted-suicide whose recovery and dream of reunion with her daughter are followed in the film. While it is rather disheartening to watch her plod through the motions of living until her blood actually begins to flow again, the viewer can look forward to the devastation that is to come. The film is a little too predictable, too constructed, but the masterful execution makes it worth watching. Imperceptibly through the suffering we find that perspective has shifted, and that the heroine deserved more than our pity. In a world were injustice is law, sanity is insanity, and love is hate, is life death? The end of the film poses this question, and doesn't seem to leave much choice of an answer. Still, this film should be enjoyable for those looking for understanding company in their own alienation.

Sam (Jeannine Kaspar) is found by her daughter half-dead with a plastic bag over her head in a suicide attempt. She loses custody and placed in the care of Dr. Gold. She stays with her controlling older sister Ed who gets her an office cleaning job. A young executive asks her out on a date. The deli clerk always gives her a flower. She plays Paper Rock Scissors with bike shop owner for a wheel.

This is a very small indie of limited means. Jeannine Kaspar plays a very quiet character. There is limited flash in her acting until a big scene at the end. It's very much reserved film. The drama with her sister could be more demonstrative. It has a couple of big scenes. Nothing really stands out but it's a fine micro budget indie.