Fraud

Dean Fleischer-Camp's film Fraud is quite unlike anything else I've witnessed this year.

52 minutes of whiplash editing married to a completely fictional narrative makes Fraud one helluva crazy ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The actual Family's YouTube archive contains a GARGANTUAN stash of home movies covering just about every aspect of modern day American life. Every day it appears they are on trip to a new restaurant, the mall, a beach, a ski trip or hike.

Given the vast volume of the Family's video collection, I imagine several sequels are pending.

For those of you who can't just get enough "Reality TV" and want something more to hold you over -

Here is a portal into the Family's genuine adventures:

One can "binge watch" their YouTube channel for literally weeks and come away with a greater appreciation of that quest for good life and the so-called "American Dream".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF0pr_wuOvA

FRAUD is a timely and relevant film if one takes a moment to consider all the current commotion over "fake news", politics and American consumerism run amok.

Dean Fleischer-Camp's direction and Jonathon Rippon's impressive editing create quite an artistic feat of pure magic.

After watching the movie, I did a bit of research to find the family's actual YouTube channel AND it sure doesn't disappoint in the sheer number of home movies and adventures they have posted online.

If one is even remotely curious to see how different fact is from fiction, then a quick finger's waltz atop the keyboard will let you explore the REAL family who inspired the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF0pr_wuOvA

Saw this film in London and the power of split-second editing is amazing. I may seem a bit reserved with my British characterizations, but the flavor of the family portrayed in the movie is uniquely American. This plot wouldn't seem as plausible with an English family. Nevertheless, I recommend people give Fraud a good watch whenever it goes to VOD.

Amazing how prescient this film was in anticipating our current post-truth era.

With AI ascendant, all authenticity in film gets waylaid by a constellation of algorithms.

*Interesting aside: I researched the star behind Dean's film: the enigmatic father behind the camerawork.

In the aftermath of Dean's film, Gary's life has taken quite an epic turn.

He's networking with world-renowned scientists, audio forensic engineers, a Nobel prize nominee & intelligence officials of several 3-letter agencies to solve one of the greatest puzzles of all-time:

The EVP Mystery.

So, are these bizarre whispers aliens or ghosts?

It is a confounding riddle that certainly merits further investigation.

One of Life's Great Questions seems about to be answered: Are We Alone in the Cosmos???

Gary's also repeatedly winning BIG jackpot$ using EVP messages to pick lottery #s.

This sensational aspect invites the curious to look closely at the man portrayed in the film.

Gary's trailblazing research is getting recognized across the globe:

Just google: Medium WeAreNotAlone Gary.

A couple (and their young child) live a life beyond their means, putting them in a desperate spot. What will they do and what is the aftermath?

"Fraud" is one of those films that makes me uncomfortable. Not because the material in the film is controversial, but because I tend to respect the old saying about only speaking nicely or keeping your mouth shut. And, unfortunately, this just does not give me much to work with if I want to be strictly nice.

One might say it is clever, innovative, or at the very least "experimental" that the film is shot on a home video recorder, and most scenes are really only a few seconds long. So the plot unravels through partial vignettes, leaving the viewer plenty of room to make their own assumptions about the characters. This might be seen as a clever device, perhaps, but it's a hard sell.

Any movie made with a home video recorder is hard to watch. Only on rare occasions to "found footage" and similar styles really work. This one works if we ignore the fact that the dad seems to be always filming… always… no matter how big or small an event is. And he continues to film while questionable activity is going on, making him either really stupid or unbelievably addicted to his camera.

Simply put, there is not much to see here. It has no humor, it has no scary bits. There is a modicum of suspense, maybe. If this were an actual documentary, it may have some sort of value in that regard, but it is quite obviously not a real documentary and hopefully does not pretend to be. Allegedly the director had to tell an audience that the family in the film had not committed any real crimes… but what gullible audience would have believed they did?

Right now, the film is making the festival rounds, and can be seen March 25 at the Boston Underground Film Festival (BUFF). This is not the must-see film of the festival, and it seems unlikely that a distributor will jump at the chance to buy it up. (And, frankly, with all the music clips in the background, it may not even be able to be released legally.)