The Red Maple Leaf

We went to the Hamilton Film Festival to watch the Red Maple Leaf, what a great movie and wonderful time we had. First of all the theatre was sold out, they had a red carpet and the actors from the film were there and we took photos with them. The film was riveting and kept everybody on the edge of their seats until the very end. Brilliant acting carried an excellent written movie. Then at the end, after a standing ovation they had a question and answer session with the actors and director of the film. It was the first time we experienced anything like that, it was simply amazing and we were all awe struck. It was certainly a night to remember.

Now I do believe IMDB has become the Disneyland for hired guns and mouthpieces to give other viewers fake, phony and lying reviews. When a film is such a lousy production, yet there are so many fake 10/10 reviews rushed in like swarming locusts giving blind praises to it. Obviously, these reviewers are either friends, relatives or all those people who are friends or relatives of these friends and relatives.

This film, before it's even showed its title, was doomed to be a lousy film. The script was so poor and the directing so lazy. After the traffic accident, this guy's wife and daughter were both killed in the crash, yet this guy who survived, just sat on the rear bumper of an ambulance, without any bruise, any trace of blood, the guy was still in a perfect condition. If his wife and daughter were both killed in a fatal crash, this guy at least should have some bruises, wounds and some bleedings, yet he's in perfect condition. Then when his colleague knocked on his door but he didn't answer, the guy just found the door key in a colorful ceramic cartoon figure which was so stupidly put on a stone in this guy's front yard. Who would be that stupid putting his front door key in such obvious place? What a lousy arrangement.

Then we got the more damaging proof that this film is a bad one, since there are so many bad actors who only showed in bad B movies. When film proceeded along, you just couldn't help but jumped out of your chair and yelled: "Jesus, what a stupid movie!!"

A real joy to watch and a pleasure for me to share with my friends. The Red Maple Leaf is an extraordinary simple film, yet it tells a big story, and what a story delivered by a super talented cast of some of Hollywood's finest actors. We happened to catch the film during the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and we're glad we did. Don't expect special effects and explosions, this is a real life drama. The film is produced and finely crafted by an independent production company, but I will be surprised if a big film distributor does not pick this film up very quickly because it's a fantastic film. If you get a chance to see it when it becomes available, do it you will enjoy it.

We live just outside of San Francisco and my husband and I love going to the movies. And we love film festivals because we get to see some wonderful films that sometimes never make it to the big screen. So on the Friday we looked at the schedules of the films that we're playing at CAIFF and spotted The Red Maple Leaf which stood out because of its amazing cast of actors. We decided that we would see it on Saturday night. Well when we got to the theatre, we were caught off guard, it was so full that we thought we were not going to get tickets. We took our place in line and luckily managed to get 2 tickets, I mean luckily, because it was one of the best movies that we have seen in a long time. It's so nice to see that they can still make movies with real stories every once in a while. The icing of evening was that the star and director of the movie, Frank D'Angelo was there in the audience. He was right there watching the movie with us to everyone's surprise. When the movie ended they introduced him to a great ovation and then he took questions from the audience which made the evening even more special.

The Red Maple Leaf provides for an intriguing and captivating story, although it might sound predictable, it is not. There are moments of darkness, of drama and funny enough, even comedic banter. There is an incredibly large cast of renowned Hollywood actors, perhaps the most I've seen besides the Expendables. I understand that Frank D'Angelo produced, wrote and directed the film in addition to starring in it. That is quite the undertaking, but this film delivers the goods and more. I think I will have to watch the film a second time in order to appreciate it even more. Overall I came away from watching this film feeling fulfilled. Many movies leave you wanting by the end but not this one. Bravo to the cast on making a fantastic film. If you are looking for an interesting and different take on a familiar genre, then give this movie a try, you will not be disappointed.