Looking for Lions

This movie is a haunting, gripping portrayal of innocence and love. It alludes to noir while not over reaching and I appreciate that as an avid film goer. Looking for Lions is sanguine and elegant. While not for the tame of heart, it is very much for any heart.

Todd Julian's puppy eyes have a chemistry with Chelsae Gillian that puts Edward to shame. And we're not talking about a love story. Looking for Lions is about sacrifice. Without giving to much away, I was tearing up very early on during the film. Some love stories are short. Some are epic. Some love stories aren't about love at all but about the sacrifice that it takes and the feeling therein. And there's something so haunting (almost ghostlike) about those kinds of love stories that resonates so deeply with me when I go to the movies.

No one in their right mind would hire a dumb SoCal pretty boy with an always-on "whatever man it ain't no big thang" mentality to do that job. Especially if he was previously fired because he couldn't be bothered to deliver birthday cakes without eating/stealing them first. Upon hire, the idiot gave the 1st package to the guy on the train before receiving the token nor did he seem to have looked at the token at any point afterwards. Not that it mattered, he was given next to zero training for such a crucial and critical assignment from someone that would be more at home working behind a Jiffy Lube counter. The subject matter was interesting but it was executed using a lense from some parallel universe where organs are stored at room temperature on shelves in dirty warehouses and then illicitly smuggled from point to point by airhead millenials with no training while driving vehicles that may or may not fall apart or spontaneously combust somewhere in the middle of the valley prior to reaching the final destination. The acting didn't really bother me nor did the actors themselves but their personality portrayals didn't match those that would do that job in the real world. I'd remake this film with more emphasis on believable sterilized environments and characters that are more serious about the job and life in general and show that they do receive some level of training. I'd focus less on the love story between the two main characters as it is superfluous and a bit cheesy. The relationships and struggles of the sick individuals and their loved ones is where the attention should stay. I realize that budgets can put a hamper on things but at least borrow or rent a van for a day to make it look like the employees drive company vehicles. Would you pay out the nose to have a heart or other organ delivered in a late model Ford Focus like it's a pizza? I wouldn't. I'd use basic plastic coolers instead of a cardboard box loosely and sloppily sealed with store brand duct tape. I watched this through Kanopy for free and recommend it to folks who are willing to watch just about anything but I personally couldn't suggest that anyone pay to watch this unless you are a film student looking for inspiration within this genre. It wasn't terrible and the subject matter is just above middle of the road considering how it was handled in this movie so it gets 6 stars from me. A remake that softens some of the rough edges and focuses on believeability would easily add a few more stars that would be worth paying actual money to rent/own. Overall it's a decent low budget attempt to tell a story about a scenario that really needs a little more money and attention to detail to tell correctly. And please change the order to recieve token first and then hand over the package if this story is ever retold again by its original creators.

Looking For Lions, pretty awesome job guys. An interesting take on a subject matter that is not often tackled. The music score is fantastic and there are some great performances. I found the movie to have a lot of light and shade, with a warm heartfelt story from one side, and the seedier, darker side of the business being tackled scarily well. Whilst not being an expert in these matters myself, I think the naivety of the pawns in the story showed extremely well. I would highly recommend this film to anyone as an awesome example of indie film making. As mentioned before, this kind of story does not get too much coverage and serves as an eye opener to us all. Good Job.