Down Time

Get ready to have your comfortable, cozy little spot in front of your television turned into a sweaty prison cell, because Sean Wilson's semi-autobiographical movie, Down Time, will do just that and more! This docudrama about one man's journey into the hell that is our prison system will twist your gut more than just a little as you watch the hero's descent into the depths of prison grime and despair. This film is so real you can almost smell it!

Director Sean Wilson manages to accomplish this gritty sense of realism through the uncompromising use of realistic elements - starting with an unadulterated story and followed up with real locations of the casting of many ex-cons and gang members throughout the film. Let's face it - there simply aren't a lot of directors out there who have Wilson's combination of film sense and life experience . . . maybe Polanski could have come close if he'd stuck around and done his time! While the film does not have the polished look and feel of some of it's high-budget Hollywood produced counterparts, it makes up for this lack with it's refusal to shrink-wrap the story and scenes into some easily digested product targeted for mass consumption. We all get a birds eye view of the horror, despair, and ennui that make up the daily life of the incarcerated. An added element of empathy is woven in to the story by skillful interlacing of our protagonists memories, comments, and dreams while he `plays the survival game' each day in prison. The glimpse into the daily lives and routines of the incarcerated that Down Time delivers cannot be found elsewhere . . . unless of course you are prison-bound, in which case you might still want to rent or buy this film . . . just to study up a bit. I highly recommend this film not only to those looking for entertainment, but also for those who lack an understanding of the daily lives of those society has chosen to condemn. Check it out!

I am a big fan of low budget independent filmmaking and Sean

Wilson (11) Down Time is a maverick achievement. Shot on a

shoe string budget (check the stats), this is no Hollywood action

film, but what you get is from the gut film making. Gritty

performances by WilliamVan Nolan and Sam McBride make this a

stand out film in the low budget arena. Some of the card playing

scenes reminded me of the film Clerks (1994) with lots of off the

wall snappy dialogue. You could also compare it to some the jail

scenes in Jim Jarmusch's Down by law (1986) both films have

lots of long still shots that just kind of hand there and make you

feel the oppressive boredom of prison life. Sure there are some technical problems with this film and some

of the side characters acting is weak but you have to be able to

over look that. Down Time is what independent filmmaking is all

about.

My Cousin kept telling me to check out this film Down Time. He thought it was great as did most of his friends. Somehow this film has taken on this cult like following. Lots of people I know have seen it and all of them have strong reactions to it, either they love it or they hate it. So, I logged on to IMDb.com to see what all the buzz was about. I reviewed all the statistics and viewers comments and then picked it up at my local independent video store.

I thought it was pretty good and yes, I can see how some people can make the comparison with the film Clerks (1994), but is that a good thing? I don't know why people hold Clerks in such high regard. There are so many better independent films. Sean Wilson's Down Time is a very low budget independent prison film that has some funny dialog and a few interesting and quirky characters. It has a unique style although a little uneven. Most of the acting is adequate and a few of the performances were quite good for such a low budget film. Overall it kept my interest throughout and I thought it was a worthy effort. I would say I am in the middle on this one. (FiveStars)

I was curious to learn what professional reviewers said after reading the mixed bag of personal raves/rants here so I looked it up in Variety, then rented the movie. Yeah, it's not fantastic but have some pizza and beer and it's entertaining. Forget the plot; the interesting stuff is in the prison scenes when the guys are sitting around talking story. Checked with an industry source and found this was made with less than half the budget of the originally released El Mariachi. Glad to see some true indies are pulling together films and getting big distributors to pick them up. Should encourage other filmmakers. Down Time ran in several indie festivals (SF Indie, No Dance, Lost Film Festival) plus a big festival in San Jose, CA called Cinequest. Obviously there is something worthwhile to it.

Some quotes from the "Daily Variety" review by Dennis Harvey. (I can't quote the entire article for copyright reasons, of course, but you can go to the Variety site and look it up yourself.)

"Loosely drawn from debuting director - scenarist Sean Wilson's own stint in the slammer, B&W indie drama `Down Time' is an interesting, albeit uneven effort...Still, it's worth a look by indie-focused fests; commercially, best chances lie in homevid."

"..Slim whiles away some years in the company of fellow abstainers from the population's rigid, race-divided power struggles. These scenes are often loose and funny, with David Burkson and David Fine particularly entertaining as two of the prison's more harmless `characters.' "

"Given that, plus some inconsistent tech qualities, `Down Time' still has enough quirky and intriguing aspects to hold attention."

I have seen Downtime 7 times and it still holds my attention. A powerful independent film about the reality of prison life. Good camera angles, music, and some accomplished acting. I wait with interest to see another film by this director.