Fourteen

DVD lacked subtitles for the elderly, disabled, hearing impaired, and ESL viewers. Disrespectful & cheap on the part of the producers especially when audio & enunciation is were very poor.

Very, very cheap production. We get two cameras on tripods 95% of the time staring at talking heads (high % of personal issues) or people walking in & out of camera view. Viewer left staring at, in several cases, just a door or wall. Usual eating, drinking, smoking (must not be a smoker as it left the mouth immediately) scenes in living, bedroom, kitchen, dining predominate movie time.

I wouldn't call it as a drama movie. There is no real story. The film is to long for that short story they just drag it for long

I don't like to be critical of independent film because I admire the DIY approach to art. This film suffers from a dreary palate (digital) and rough sound. The actors all sound like they're reading lines. The budget is listed at 95,000 which seems high for what's on the screen. If they said it was made for 3,000 I would believe it. As for the story there isn't much of one or characters that are interesting or charismatic.

Mara (Tallie Medel) and Jo Mitchel (Norma Kuhling) are lifelong best friends living in Brooklyn. Mara teaches kids and aspires to write. Jo is tall, beautiful, and flighty bordering on mental instability. This is a story of their lifelong friendship and its difficulties over the years.

It's a fascinating indie. The two leads are well matched to their characters. At first, it looks like a run-of-the-mill twentysomethings mumblecore indie which is perfectly fine. Then it starts sprinkling in some hints of the darker substance underneath. That's the greatness lurking inside this story and that's its ultimate power. The indie filmmaking does hold it back a bit. Dan Sallitt is obviously still experimenting on his shots and some of it doesn't work. It serves no purpose to hold the camera stationary for minutes on the train station. It may or may not be trying to insert time passage into the story. There are better ways to do that. The camera work is not professional enough but the story is well worth telling. It's very powerful in its observational nature.

The people who made this movie really had their act together. Truly outstanding performances by the two lead actresses made it easy to forget that their characters on screen were fictional. The supporting cast also added color and substance to what otherwise could easily have been a boring story about a deteriorating friendship.

Dan Sallitt directed Fourteen. Among other accomplishments he demonstrates that fine entertainment can be offered without relying on explosions or psychos with guns to mesmerize viewers.

Congratulations to all!