Figure in the Forest

I came to this movie by way of Heaven's Neighbors. That movie was so wonderful, that I had to find anything else by the same people. Ten minutes into Figure in the Forest you can tell that the same careful attention to story, the same emotional punch, and the same atmosphere are all present. While Heaven's Neighbors was often times light hearted, carrying you up and down on an emotional roller coaster, Figure in the Forest, because of it's subject matter, was far more somber and heavy. Yet it retains that undefinable something that pulls you in to that world and creates an empathetic bond with the characters. Figure retains those same qualities and it ties the two movies together with a common thumbprint. Of course Figure in the Forest is far from perfect, mainly due to what I can only guess was an infinitesimally small budget. While is quite obviously was not shot on film, this does lend a certain intimacy that is part of the charm. The acting, while very good, does drop in spots. Overall, however, the careful attention to story has elevated Figure far above most other movies shot on that level.

I really wasn't expecting much. I guess that's often when you are surprised the most. I gotta say the acting was good, the story was engrossing, and the scenes were quite beautiful. I could tell that this was made with a very small budget. But after five minutes that awareness disappeared and in fact, that limitation added to the reality and impact of the story. I also loved the fact that this was a quiet movie. It didn't try to overwhelm you with hyper-drama, opting for a softer approach that gave you time to think and made the film much more personal. We need more movies like this. Old fashioned films that put character and story first. I hope that all those involved keep at it. They are appreciated.

The scenery was the best part, but the extended scenes made these parts watchable on fast forward. The characters were wooden, but keep in mind this is a low budget movie. The worst part was the sound mixing. There was so much background noise that you can barely hear the dialog. Fortunately, the dialog was usually delivered with slow deliberateness so you could make out most of it. There was no closed captioning.

I had heard about this movie from a notice at church. Since it was made right here in Michigan I was very curious and I stayed up late to watch it. I was extremely impressed. The story was well thought out and developed. So many times smaller low budget movies tend to forget about the importance of story. Usually this results is confusing plots, unbelievable occurrences, and leaps in logic that strain your ability to sit through the whole thing. Figure in the Forest is well written and tight. Everything flows nicely, without any confusion or wasted scenes. The acting is also quite good for a movie that was shot with limited finances. Each actor brought something unique to the story. Each character was believable and fully realized, which made the ending all the more heartfelt and touching. I applaud the film makers for producing such an engaging and wonderful movie. I highly recommend Figure in the Forest and look forward to seeing new films from this talented group.