Rollercoaster

Part of the success or failure of a movie is whether it can create a plausible sense of time and place. "Roller-coaster" succeeds. It effectively employs scenes that, under different circumstances, would disparagingly be called overused or uninspired, but here they seem fresh and compelling. It reminded me a lot of "Hurricane Streets".

Roller-coaster is the story of five seemingly aimless, conflicted teens from a group home in Vancouver who break into a defunct amusement park. Each of them has a problem or a secret the movie will eventually reveal. Mix all of this with the teens' confrontations with a security guard who at first bullies and torments them. Later it appears that, whether out of boredom or a change of heart, he befriends them. However, his kindness is just a means to an end.

Too many movies are guilty of playing down to the audience. When they show angry teens, the emotion seems contrived. However, "Roller-coaster" manages to make the anger, frustration, confusion, and boredom of growing up seem real. You develop sympathy for the characters because they don't come across as spoiled or irritatingly self-pitying.

Epilogue (added March 14, 2006:) I rented Roller-coaster this past weekend and was amazed at how faulty my memory is. Several years had gone by between the time I first watched the movie and did my review. Roller-coaster is actually better than I remembered. I would now say that it is in the same league as the incredible movie, "Mean Creek".

I'm a sucker for indie flicks and same person writer/director movies. There's less off the Hollywood tampering and making things "Good for the general public" and more heart and reality. Rollercoaster is pure heart - disturbed, angsty, and mildly depressing heart, but pure nonetheless.

MOST people aren't going to like this, aren't going to understand it, and aren't going to be able to grasp such a non-linear format. Some of those "most" won't be able to admit that this could very well be reality, because it doesn't fit into the wonderbubble that is their lives. I'm not most people, I loved it.

The cinematography was beautiful, editing - brilliant, characters (aside from Sanj, admittedly) were exceptionally well developed. I knew those kids growing up.

Brendan Fletcher, though obnoxious in the beginning (his character calls for it, he was playing it well) throws out one of the most heartwrenching lines of the movie with such simple depth and emotion that it gives you chills.

Kett Turton deserves just as much praise playing the one hiding the most from the world. You can see it on his face, but you can't. He's a million people in one, putting on masks to please the people around him, when he's the one that's the most in pain.

It's not for everyone, and it doesn't end the way you want it to. This movie isn't handed to you on a silver platter like most Hollywood flicks - you're given a spork, and some salad tongs, and you have to use your brain to figure out how to cut the prime rib into bite sized edible pieces. But if you're like me, you like a challenge in a good movie.

You can buy this movie at famvid.net for under $8!!. I couldn't stop watching it once I rented it. The realistic teen drama was enhanced by the dreamy music that floated thru the amusement park. I could never imagine climbing a roller-coaster, and this was really amazing to watch. I don't understand why Darrin jumped off the coaster. Was it because Chloe persuaded him to do it, or was it because she slept around and betrayed him?

Anyway it was different, and enjoyable to view. Dark and depressing, but a lot of good movies are that. The character Sketch was really creative, and I was glad that Stick joined him on his mission to his sisters.

Does anyone know if the soundtrack is available anywhere?

Kudos to Scott Smith for getting this film made. It was beautifully shot and put together. The setting made for a visually stunning and poetic film about disenfranchised youth. The actors did such a convincing job of their roles that I was feeling their pain. Teen angst at its most depressing.

When 'rollercoaster' played the Vancouver International Film Fest earlier this year, I thought it demonstrated a kind of emotional depth and a sense of visual style that are exceedingly rare in film these days. While it would be misleading to label the story 'slow', it does have a vaguely European feel to it - a narrative that unfolds more through place and emotional state than through a linear set of events. Ambitious, haunting, and well worthwhile.