levingem

I don't know where to begin with this awful mess of a movie. I know it's supposed to be "kids and family" oriented, but that shouldn't be an excuse for horrific, irresponsible film making! How do movies like this get distribution?? I have seen first time student films of better quality and production value than this.

The story and dialogue is an incoherent mess. The sound editing sounds like a mix wasn't even attempted. The cinematography is less than amateurish, I have never seen so many washed out, overexposed shots in one movie in my entire life. I've seen better acting in soft-core porns.

The most disturbing thing to me is that this movie had a 9.4 rating on IMDb, which is the only reason I even attempted to view this disgrace of a film. Granted, it was only out of 33 votes, but I figured if 30+ people had seen this movie and taken the time to go on this site and give it a "10" rating, that it had to at least be worth checking out, even if it turned out to not be that amazing.

This is a clear example of friends, cast, and crew of this film just logging on and giving it a "10". Hopefully my vote of "1", and all the other inevitable "1's" to follow from people who unfortunately see this film, bring the average down to a number that accurately represents the hideousness of this disgusting spectacle.

I'll begin this review by saying I didn't dislike this film. It was well acted, and looked very very good for an independent film. I guess I just felt like I knew everything that was going to happen before it did. At the beginning of the movie, the scenes seemed very trite and underdeveloped; after a few lines of dialogue and a couple of cuts, we're abruptly taken away to the next part of the story. Because of this rushed feeling to the movie, I never got to know the supporting characters, who had plenty of potential for further development.

The one thing I find redeeming about this film is the tension that builds between the two leads. The filmmaker does a good job of teasing the audience time and time again, to the point where I just gave up any hope of them getting together. She successfully took the film to a point where she could take one of two routes: they end up together, or they never take that chance. The choice she makes works for the tone of the film, even if the ending is a tad abrupt.

All in all, the filmmaker definitely has talent, I just wish there was less ambiguity in the narrative and more character development.

The Short and the Short of It:

-this film tries so hard to tell a story unconventionally, which it kinda does, but the story itself is extremely conventional.

-half of the dialogue is spoken directly to the camera, or "the audience". It is meant to be charming and sweet and witty but in actuality becomes annoying, overused, and ineffective.

-any time something comes along that can be considered a cliché, the "hero" specifically acknowledges this cliché and says something to the effect of "we're going to avoid this plot development, as it is a cliché". Well, "hero", you've actually magnified the problem, because if the "audience" didn't happen to catch it the first time, you went ahead and spelled it out for them immediately afterwards.

BOTTOM LINE......don't waste you time.