Amok - Columbine School Massacre

Andrew Robinson's "April Showers" is like Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center." We relive a day that stunned the world. We look for triumph over tragedy at the most intimate level.

It is an intense film. The MPAA found its content disturbing. I disagree. What they meant was that it unlocks the deepest feelings of innocence lost.

The softest targets, we all are. Protectors unprotected. The hero inside ignored. The survivor looking over the dead. The dead looking over those still standing.

The history of the world in fewer days than God took to create it.

And who is left to create charity, hope, and faith?

The answer comes from a director with a sure hand, in real life a young playwright at Columbine High School 10 years ago whose next leading lady was to be a student named Rachel Joy Scott.

This movies plays out like one long drawn out sad scene. You never have time to feel anything for the characters because they are too busy being consumed by grief FOR HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. The acting is one step above your average Doritos commercial and the cinematography is film school at best. As for the sound track I think this was the only movies I have ever watched that had one continuous crappy sad song playing throughout. It was like being stuck at a wake with a bunch of kids who just lost their tickets to a Jonus Brothers concert. If you see this DVD at any time RUN RUN or grab it and flush it down the toilet.

Brave of the director to attack this sort of subject and for not glorifying the "bad guy(s)" However that is where the compliments end.

The idiotic shaky camera syndrome just annoys the hell of of many people.. the character development is shallow at best. Acting is well.. as one other review said very "after school special" and I'd have to agree.

The entire film really is a failure in the end since it lacks what is necessary to really tie things together properly.

Oh and before someone gets on the soapbox about "it's the guns" (which is inevitable on this subject. It is not and nor has it ever been. Yes tragedies happen with seriously mentally ill psychos. But this is a classic example of how moronic a "gun free zone" is.

If even some of the teachers had been armed this sort of thing could have been stopped much faster and w/far less loss of life. Same as many other incidents of this nature. No one can predict such an incident.. but we all can certainly prepare to handle such infinitely better.

All of that said.. I as most others feel for the victims of such incidents. Most everyone wishes such things never happen ever. But that is simply not reality.

The most poignant part of this entire effort is the list of those lost to all of us at the end. To those I would say we all should salute them for their sacrifice and/or bravery. But not a tear will I ever shed for those killed that perpetrate such crimes.

Saw this film at the premiere in L.A. It was much more than I was expecting. It is a very emotional story and it is realistically done. Its treatment of school violence is very important for the youth of America and, for that matter, the world's youth to see. I hope the U.S. rating of "R" can be changed or it will prevent young people from seeing it or could stop some theaters from screening it. It definitely should be seen by everyone, but especially teenagers.

The fact that it centers around the victims and the survivors of the tragedy and not the mind or motives of the perpetrator, makes it even more engrossing. I cannot think of another film on this subject that treats school violence in this moving and most accessible manner.

Based on actual events, April Showers draws us into the center of a tornado funnel cloud of events, by offering us a rather unique perspective...that of one of the survivors of violence unhinged.

Mass shootings at U. S. schools, like it or not, form a malignant presence on our cultural landscape. This film, if nothing else, accentuates the following inescapable truth: A shared episode of on campus mindless violence will divide the lives of all those present into "Before and After".

April Showers, obviously, is a labor of love. It was produced, written and directed by survivors. This simple reality makes the film incomparably original in a number of ways, but is simultaneously the source of April's one big flaw.

Let's focus on the positive elements first. Unlike any other movie I have seen about school shootings, almost all the violence is off-camera. No endless loop slow-mo's of exploding blood packets here! Also, never before have I seen a portrayal of those left behind in the wake of a tragedy like this, in such total shock as to be not only speechless, but practically paralyzed, days after the event. These excruciatingly awkward bouts of on-screen silence contribute to making April painful to watch at times. Sometimes very In-Your-Face aggressive about driving home a point, but just when you're ready to throw in the towel and say, "Enough already!" the Director manages to back off. You must be patient with this movie.

About halfway through, I was almost ready to give up on it. When all was said and done, it was an extremely satisfying experience. 2 hours after viewing, I decided it was most definitely a good movie. It could have been a really great one! The big flaw I mentioned earlier: April needed more character development before pulling the proverbial rug out from under the viewer's feet. The film provided a lot more development later on, though. Perhaps the Director's intention was to add to our sense of bewilderment and confusion, but it was almost a deal-breaker for me.

One other disappointment: Tom Arnold and Illeana Douglas had less than 10 minutes on-screen time between the 2 of them!

7.5*, rounded down to 7*.

ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!